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Pebbles Flintstone, who now works for an ad agency and Bamm-Bamm Rubble, who works in a car repair shop, decide to get married after Bamm-Bamm proposes with a poem, in the middle of the street (after Pebbles mistakenly thinks he was trying to dump her when Bamm-Bamm read her a letter that started "Dear Pebbles"). However, Fred loses the family savings when he bet it on his team, the Bedrock Brontos. Fred tries asking for a raise from Mr. Slate, but is dismissed from his job because of his violent temper. Fred enlists Barney's help in bringing more money for the wedding, but they fail, losing Barney's money to a real estate con artist. Meanwhile, Wilma's mother Pearl Slaghoople arrives to help with the wedding. Pebbles and Bamm-Bamm decide to get married in Rock Vegas because of their parents' arguing and fighting. Wilma and Betty discover the truth about Fred and Wilma's nest egg, and Fred is forced out of the house. Reconciling with Barney, Wilma and Betty, Fred asks Barney to help search for Pebbles and Bamm-Bamm. Fred and Barney travel to Rock Vegas looking for Pebbles and Bamm-Bamm. They stop at a casino where Barney wins more money. They are attacked by the Wedding Whackers gang after mistaking them for Pebbles and Bamm-Bamm getting married and took a photo of them robbing a newlywed couple. Shortly afterwards they are rescued by Pebbles and Bamm-Bamm. During the chase, the photo of the Wedding Whackers is destroyed, so the four are captured as suspects of being the marriage whackers, along with the real marriage whackers. While in detainment, Fred reveals all the trouble he has gone through to try to help Pebbles with her wedding ceremony which leads the marriage whackers to reveal to their crimes, to the dismay of the Whackers' mother. Since Barney made a lot of money on his casino wins on the big wheel, they can use it to pay for the wedding and pay off their debts. Fred, Barney, Pebbles and Bamm-Bamm finally reunite with Wilma, Betty and the others. Mr. Slate rehires Fred, and Pebbles and Bamm-Bamm get married, with Fred, Barney, Dino, Wilma and Betty as the happy ones seeing them getting married. Fred gets his job back from Mr Slate and is given a raise after being invited to the wedding. At the end, Pebbles and Bamm-Bamm reveal they are moving to Hollyrock with Barney paying their way with his Rock Vegas winnings, at which Fred gets angry with Barney and they start to fight again. 

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Alfred J. Kwak was born as the son of Johan Sebastian and Anna Kwak. Some time after his birth, Alfred loses his parents and his brothers and sisters after a car hits them. Henk the mole, a good friend of the Kwak family, raises the little orphan duck. Alfred experiences a lot of adventures. Unlike many other cartoons targeted for children, Alfred J. Kwak features exceptionally mature and often dark themes. Amongst others it deals with different social and political issues, such as abuse of power, but also raises important values such as friendship and solidarity. The cartoon is also notable for the political themes on which it touches. In the cartoon, Alfred fights against a fascist dictator, takes in refugees fleeing from a country under Apartheid (with white geese and black ducks), saves whales against hunters, and oversees the changeover of his country from an absolute monarchy to a constitutional monarchy with a democratically elected president. Such themes are far from typical in a children's cartoon, and form a big part of Alfred J. Kwak's appeal. Other episodes have satirised the Japanese love of golf, and criticised countries which have sharp north/south economic divides. The cartoon is also unusual for the subtlety of its long-term narrative. In most children's cartoons, the characters do not age. In Alfred J. Kwak, we see the progress of the main characters from very young children to adulthood as the series advances. This is particularly striking in the character of Dolf, who is initially a mere schoolboy, but who, as time passes, becomes a criminal and a dictator. 

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Elfen Lied takes place in Kamakura and Kanagawa, and focuses on the "Diclonius", a newly mutated species. Their appearance is similar to humans, but with several differences, namely horn-like protrusions on the forehead and the presence of telekinetic invisible arms called "Vectors". One such Diclonius, Lucy, is the main character of the series: Initially held in a facility built for experimentation, located off the coast of Kamakura, she manages to escape and wreak havoc, but is injured in the process, an event which causes her to develop a secondary, childlike personality known as Nyu. Lucy is found by two locals, Kouta, who studies at the local university, and his cousin Yuka. They take her in, and become involved with the numerous, often brutal, attempts to recapture her by a Special Assault Team and a number of other Diclonius, who shift frequently from oblivious to murderous. 

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The main story of Banana Fish consists of six parts, published across 19 volumes: * "Prologue" (volume 1) * "The Mystery of Banana Fish" (volumes 1–6) * "Ash's Counterattack" (volumes 7–11) * "The Return of Golzine" (volumes 12–14) * "The Final Battle" (volumes 15–18) * "Epilogue" (volumes 18–19) 

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The book follows a typical day for Fungus the Bogeyman, starting when he wakes up and ending just before he falls asleep. As his day progresses, he undergoes a mild existential crisis, pondering what his seemingly pointless job of scaring surface people is really for. He is a member of the Bogey society, which is very similar to British society, but Bogeymen enjoy things which humans (called Drycleaners because of their contrasting environmental preferences) would not be comfortable around; for example darkness, damp, cold and over-ripe food. The book depicts the mundane details of Bogey life in loving detail, with definitions of Bogey slang and numerous annotations concerning the myths, pets, hobbies, literature, clothing and food of the Bogeys. Much of the humour derives from word play. For example, Bogeymen are shown to enjoy eating and sharing flies in a similar way to human cigarettes; one brand of fly is the "strong French Gallwasp", a pun on the cigarette Gauloises. 

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The series focused mostly on Sam, a bald headed, big- eared human who escaped the harshness of everyday life with the help of abstract friends that he created based on parts of his life. His friends included Yorick, Harry the Hipster, Professor Madcliffe, Chicken Liver, and a lizard-like character named Kermit (who later evolved into Kermit the Frog). Early in its run, the show mostly featured the puppets lip-synching to popular songs of the day (if the song was by a female performer, the puppet would wear a wig while singing). Later, formal sketches were drawn up, many spoofing well-known television shows at the time, including the series which followed Sam and Friends in the Washington market, The Huntley-Brinkley Report. A popular early sketch that would be used often in subsequent Henson productions was "Inchworm", in which a character, often Kermit, would nibble on what looked like a worm, but would ultimately turn out to be the tongue or nose of the monster Big V, who would devour him. Bob Payne once substituted for Jim Henson while he was in Europe. Jerry Juhl also worked on the show toward the end of its run where he substituted for Jane Henson. Starting in 1959, advertisements for Esskay Meats would appear at the end of the show, as well as Wilkins Coffee (the latter featured two Muppets created exclusively for the spots, "Wilkins" and "Wontkins"). While Payne, Juhl, and Jane Henson all puppeteered in the series alongside Jim Henson, Jim provided all of the voices himself (unless the voices were taken from a record). 

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The plot revolves around Sylvia Barrett, an idealistic English teacher at an inner city high school who hopes to nurture her students' interest in classic literature (especially Chaucer and writing). She quickly becomes discouraged during her first year of teaching, frustrated by bureaucracy, the indifference of her students, and the incompetence of many of her colleagues. The title of the book is taken from a memo telling her why a student was being punished: he had gone "up the down staircase". She decides to leave the public school (government-funded) system to work in a smaller private setting. She changes her mind, though, when she realizes that she has, indeed, touched the lives of her students. The novel is epistolary; aside from opening and closing chapters consisting entirely of dialogue the story is told through memos from the office, fragments of notes dropped in the trash can, essays handed in to be graded, lesson plans, suggestions dropped in the class suggestion box, and most often by inter- classroom notes that are a dialogue between Sylvia and an older teacher. Sylvia also writes letters to a friend from college who chose to get married and start a family rather than pursuing a career. The letters serve as a recap and summary of key events in the book, and offer a portrait of women's roles and responsibilities in American society in the mid-1960s. An inter-classroom note in which the older teacher is translating the jargon of the memos from the office includes the memorable epigram Let it be a challenge to you' means you're stuck with it." Calling a trash can a circular file comes from the same memo: Keep on file in numerical order' means throw in waste-basket." Another, "It has come to my attention" means "You're in trouble." 

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In Tokyo, an intelligent yet disaffected high-school student named Light Yagami finds the "Death Note", a mysterious black notebook which can kill anyone as long as the user knows both the target's name and face. After verifying that the notebook works and initially being terrified of its god-like abilities, Light begins to consider the possibilities of the Death Note's abilities and sets out to create a utopian world without crime, killing numerous high-profile Japanese criminals, before eventually targeting international criminals and felons around the world. Five days after discovering the notebook, Light is visited by Ryuk, a "Shinigami", beings inspired by the Japanese god of death and the Death Note's previous owner. Ryuk, who is invisible to anyone who has not touched the Death Note, reveals that he dropped the notebook into the human world out of boredom and is amused by Light's actions. As numerous criminals and convicts around the world begin to die of inexplicable freak accidents and heart attacks, the global media begin to believe that a single mastermind is responsible for the mysterious murders and name him , who is both feared and beloved by the public and law enforcement agencies. Hoping to apprehend Kira, Interpol requests the assistance of an enigmatic and highly esteemed international consulting detective, known as L, who has cracked numerous crime cases around the world, to assist them in the investigation. After deducing that Kira is based in Japan, L stages a TV broadcast in which he tricks Light into revealing that he is in the Kanto region of Japan by manipulating him to kill a decoy. Furious, Light vows to kill L, whom he views as obstructing his plans. L quickly deduces that Kira has inside knowledge of the Japanese police's investigation, which is led by Light's father, Soichiro Yagami. Under the suspicion that "Kira" could have familial connections with the members of the "Kira" investigation, L assigns a team of FBI agents to monitor the families of those connected with the investigation, but Light outmaneuvers and kills them all. Nonetheless, L picks up enough hints to designate Light as the prime suspect. Around this time, Light graduates from high school to college. L recruits Light into the Kira Task Force, with both trying to get the other to reveal crucial information. At this point, a famous model/actress named Misa Amane gains a second Death Note from a Shinigami named Rem. Misa makes a deal with Rem for Shinigami eyes, which allows her to kill knowing only the face at the cost of half her lifespan. Misa commits numerous murders, sends taped recordings to the police, and eventually uncovers Light's identity as the original Kira. Infatuated with Light, she demands Light be her boyfriend. Although he does not love Misa, Light agrees, intending to use Misa's Shinigami eyes to discern L's true name. However, before she can do so, L deduces that Misa is likely the second Kira and detains her. Rem, who has feelings for Misa, threatens to kill Light if he does not find a way to save Misa. Light arranges a scheme in which he and Misa temporarily lose their memories of the Death Note, and has Rem pass the Death Note to a less morally driven individual, Kyosuke Higuchi of the Yotsuba Group. Now with no knowledge of the Death Note, Light wholeheartedly joins the investigation. Together, Light and L deduce Higuchi's identity, arrest him, and discover the existence of the Death Notes and the Shinigami. When they touch the Death Note, Light and Misa regain their memories, and Light kills Higuchi with a piece of the Death Note, regaining possession of the book. However, L casts suspicion on Misa, forcing Rem to murder L to save her. Rem dies in the process, as it is forbidden for Shinigami to prevent humans from dying. The task force agrees to cover up L's death and appoint Light as the new L. The investigation stalls as a result. Four years later, crime rates worldwide have massively dropped, but cults have arisen which adore Kira. Two intelligent young men, who were raised as potential successors to L, are revealed: Near and Mello. Both are aware that L is dead, and thus consider Light, the current L, a prime suspect. Mello, with the Mafia's assistance, kidnaps Light's sister, resulting in his father's death during the rescue mission. As suspicion starts to fall again on Misa, Light passes Misa's Death Note to a fervent supporter of Kira, Teru Mikami. He also appoints a well-known newscaster, Kiyomi Takada as Kira's public spokesperson. Realizing that Takada is connected to Kira, Mello kidnaps her. Takada kills Mello with a hidden page of the Death Note but is killed by Light in order to dispel suspicions. Shortly after, Near deduces Mikami's connection to Kira and arranges a meeting between Light and the current Kira Task Force members. Light seizes the chance to have Mikami kill Near as well as all the task force members. However, Mikami's Death Note fails to work. It is revealed that Near had replaced Mikami's Death Note with a decoy. Perusing the names Mikami had written down, only Light's is missing, which proves Light is Kira. A scuffle breaks out during which Light is grievously wounded. Ryuk, realizing that Light will spend the rest of his life in prison, writes down Light's name in his Death Note—as he had promised to do at the beginning of the story. A year passes after Light's death, and while the world seems to have returned to normal, a large cult has secretly amassed, worshipping Kira as their god and savior. 

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In New York City in 1962, aspiring author Barbara Novak arrives at Banner House to present her new work, Down with Love, a book aiming to free women from love, teach them to enjoy sex without commitment, and to replace the need for a man with things such as chocolate. Following her rules would, she believes, help to give women a boost in the workplace and in the world in general. When the men who run Banner House refuse to support the book, Vikki Hiller, Barbara's editor, suggests Barbara meet with Catcher Block – a successful writer for the magazine Know and a notorious ladies' man – in order to promote the book. However, Catcher avoids her repeatedly by postponing their dates until she gets fed up, insults him, and walks out. Catcher's boss and best friend, Peter MacMannus, and Vikki take a liking to one another. However, their relationship revolves around Barbara and Catcher, and neither is brave enough to express their feelings for the other. Peter feels overshadowed by Catcher's strong personality, and Vikki wants to see strength in her lover, even assuming that Peter must be gay. Barbara starts promoting her book with Vikki's help, and things take off when they get Judy Garland to sing the song "Down with Love" as a promotion to the book on The Ed Sullivan Show. Sales skyrocket, as housewives and women around the world buy the book and rebel against their men; Catcher now wants to meet Barbara, but now it is she who rejects him. The breaking point comes as Barbara appears on a national TV show talking about a chapter from the book – "The Worst Kind of Man" – and cites Catcher Block as the perfect example, causing his dates to reject him, much to his fury. Vowing to prove Barbara wants love and marriage like every other women, Catcher arranges for a casual meeting at a drycleaners, taking advantage of the fact that Barbara has never met or seen him, and he poses as Major Zip Martin, a polite and attentive astronaut. Barbara appears to be immediately infatuated with this man who seemingly has no idea who she is, in contrast to men who now avoid her since the publication of her book. "Zip" takes her to the most fashionable locations in New York while maintaining considerable sexual tension between them by feigning naivete and a desire to remain chaste until he is "ready" for a physical relationship. But he starts falling for her for real, complicating his plan. When Barbara finds Catcher/Zip at a party he is almost caught out, and decides it is time to take everything to the next level: he tells Barbara that Catcher Block wants to interview him for an exposé on the NASA space program and asks her to accompany him. It is his own apartment and he sets everything up to record her saying she loves him. Unfortunately, as they begin to have sex, one of his many lovers, Gwendolyn, walks in on them, and not knowing who Barbara is, exposes Catcher's identity and leaves, forcing him to come clean to Barbara. But then it is Barbara who reveals the truth: she knew who he was from the beginning, but she also lied as she is actually Nancy Brown, once one of Catcher's many secretaries, who fell in love with him whilst working at Know but turned him down when he asked her out because she did not want to be just one of his many flings. She did this to be different from all the women he knew, and make him love her like she loves him. As they embrace, Catcher proclaims he wants to marry her, but Gwendolyn then returns, having overheard him say Barbara Novak's name, and thanks Barbara for what she has done for womankind. Barbara realizes that she does not want love or him as she has become a real "down with love" girl. Vikki and Peter's relationship also changes when she insults him for helping Catcher. Peter realizes he is indeed like any other man and takes Vikki to Catcher's apartment to have passionate sex with her. Days later, Catcher is completely depressed and unsuccessful at winning Barbara back. Even his exposé, which he wrote on how falling in love with her made him a better man, is ruined now that Barbara has told her story in her own magazine, Now. Learning of an opening at Now, he goes in for an interview with her, and tells her how much she changed him. Though she resists her lingering feelings, he says he wishes there could be a middle ground for them, somewhere between her confident blonde persona and her original brunette persona. As he is leaving her office, she surprises him on the elevator, showing him a bright red hair style: she has found the middle ground and she wants to be with him. They fly to Las Vegas to get married, influencing Vikki and Peter, who also decide to get married. The end credits show their marriage has resulted in a new book intended to end the battle of the sexes. The pair end by singing "Here's To Love". 

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The plot concerns the efforts of a young member of the bourgeoisie, Victor Krap, to cut himself off from society and his family—while at the same time accepting hand-outs from his mother. The title, eleutheria (ελευθερία) is Greek for "liberty". Each act takes place on successive Winter days in Paris. 

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The pilot opens with Ben Stiller talking about the cancelled Ben Stiller Show, the Emmy award he won for the show, and sarcastically criticizing George Lucas for having not won an Emmy. After a short sting, Heat Vision then opens with a title sequence explaining how Jack gained his new powers, and how Heat Vision came into existence. 

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Details of contemporary small-town American life are embroidered upon a description of an annual rite known as "the lottery". In a small village of about 300 residents, the locals are in an excited yet nervous mood on June 27. Children gather stones, as the adult townsfolk assemble for their annual event, which in the local tradition is apparently practiced to ensure a good harvest (Old Man Warner quotes an old proverb: "Lottery in June, corn be heavy soon"). However, some other villages have already discontinued the lottery, and rumors are spreading that a village farther north is considering doing likewise. The lottery preparations start the night before, with coal merchant Mr. Summers and postmaster Mr. Graves drawing up a list of all the extended families in town and preparing a set of paper slips, one per family; all are blank, except for one later revealed to be marked with a black dot. The slips are folded and placed in a black wooden box, which in turn is stored in a safe at Mr. Summers' office until the lottery is scheduled to begin. Over the years, the box has become battered and discolored and has been stored in various places around town when not in use. On the morning of the lottery, the townspeople gather shortly before 10 a.m. in order to have everything done in time for lunch. First, the heads of the extended families each draw one slip from the box, but wait to unfold them until all the slips have been drawn. Bill Hutchinson gets the marked slip, meaning that his family has been chosen. His wife Tessie protests that Mr. Summers rushed him through the drawing, but the other townspeople dismiss her complaint. Since the Hutchinson family consists of only one household, a second drawing to choose one household within the family is skipped. For the final drawing, one slip is placed in the box for each member of the household Bill, Tessie, and their three children. Each of the five draws a slip, and Tessie gets the marked one. The townspeople begin to stone her to death, as she screams about the unfairness of the lottery, and the slips blow away in the wind. 

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When a mysterious beam of light starts disrupting and destroying the Earth's atmosphere, Flash Gordon (Larry "Buster" Crabbe), Dr. Zarkov (Frank Shannon), and Dale Arden (Jean Rogers) - accidentally accompanied by wisecracking reporter Happy Hapgood (Donald Kerr) - swing into action in Zarkov's rocketship, believing that it could be coming from the planet Mongo. Once in space, however, they discover that the ray is originating from Mars. Journeying to the fourth planet, they discover that their old enemy from Mongo, Ming the Merciless (Charles B. Middleton), whom they had believed dead, is still alive, and has formed an alliance with Azura (Beatrice Roberts), the Witch Queen of Mars. From Azura's planet, and under her protection, he is operating a gigantic Nitron ray that is destroying Earth's atmosphere. Azura's powers include the ability to transmute people into figures of living clay, condemned to live in darkened caves, and she is hated and feared by most of the population. Conversely, the Clay People, led by their King (C. Montague Shaw), know the secret of how to eliminate Azura's power, but lack the means of escaping the caves to which their ruined bodies restrict them, in order to battle her. Gordon and his party would seem to hold the answer to their problem, except that the Clay People don't trust them at first, and end up holding Dale Arden hostage. Ultimately the Earth visitors and the Clay People become allies in the tandem quest to defeat Azura and stop Ming from destroying the Earth. Flash, Dale, Zarkov, and Hapgood do battle against Azura's magic and her Martian space-force, Ming's super-scientific weaponry, the treacherous Forest People, and other dangers on the Red Planet. Finally, they win by the classic strategy of divide-and-conquer, showing Azura that Ming has been plotting behind her back to take power from her. Azura's alliance with Ming is broken, at the cost of the Queen's own life, but the Clay People are freed from their curse. And the evil emperor of Mongo, his Nitron ray destroyed and his escape cut off on all sides by the now hostile Martian forces, is finally destroyed by the accidental result of his own machinations and treachery. 

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David Hare's Stuff Happens is a play about the events that led up to the 2003 Iraq War. The play focuses on the diplomatic side of the war. The play begins at George Bush's election in November 2000 and ends around April 2004. Parts of the dialogue are direct quotes from the characters' real-world counterparts. The play is about real people and real events that had occurred. Hare states that "the events within [the play] have been authenticated from multiple sources, both private and public." Hare also stated that the dialogue is not “knowingly untrue” but he had to sometimes “use his imagination” to cover events that were not recorded verbatim, admitting that his play is not a documentary as such.Hare, David. Stuff Happens. New York. Faber and Faber, Inc., 2004. author's note. The events during the play are as follows: _Act One-_ Scene 1 through 3: These scenes serve as an introduction to the play and the characters. Scene 3 focuses specifically on background information on the main characters before the plot begins. Scene 4: The National Security Council starts the meeting talking about the issues in the Middle East, specifically what's going on between the Israelis and the Palestinians. After talking briefly about this issue, Bush then wants to shift the conversation towards Iraq. The CIA believe that Iraq has a plant at an abandoned warehouse to produce chemical or biological weapons. Since there isn't enough proof, they are told to look more into the issue. Scene 5: This whole scene is about an angry journalist. The journalist rants about how Americans ignore how lucky they are to be able to have freedom and instead, they choose to fight with each other and disagree with each other constantly. Scene 6: Hare describes how the events of 9/11 happen. He gives the exact times the planes crashed into the twin towers and the Pentagon. It is also explained that the 4th plane was meant to hit the White House but the passengers were able to prevent that from happening. This is what started the War on Terror between "the free and democratic world and terrorism." Scene 7: The War Cabinet meets at Camp David to discuss future plans going forward. They decide that Afghanistan can be used as an example to show other countries what happens if they try to use terrorism on other countries. Wolfowitz and Rumsfeld believe that the U.S. should take action on Iraq since it will be less of a risk than Afghanistan and still be able to send a message to other countries. Wolfowitz believes that Saddam Hussein is involved with what happened on 9/11. Scene 8: Bush signs orders to attack Afghanistan with British support. Air strikes attack 31 different Al Qaeda and Taliban targets. When the British were able to track down Bin Laden, they were ordered to pull out which gave him the chance to go into a different hiding spot off the radar. Bush then talks to Rumsfeld privately to discuss going to war with Iraq. Scene 9: A politician states that the attack on Iraq was controversial and possibly illegal. The British decide that they will no longer back up America after these actions because they believe there wasn't a legal cause for attacking Iraq. Scene 10: It is believed that Iraq was a terrorist ally that was a threat to America. Other countries aren’t taking Bush seriously and don't believe he knows what he is doing. Bush and Blair meet privately at Bush's ranch to discuss the problems regarding the Middle East. Bush believes that since Afghanistan is done they should just move on to Iraq as a second phase. Blair tries convincing Bush that the support from the UN is needed before they can invade Iraq. The British need evidence that Iraq is actually a threat in order to be able to invade them legally. After their conversation, Bush says to the press that the removal of Saddam is the main goal with his government. Scene 11: Bush believes that since there are new styles of threats since the UN Charter was created, that means there should be new ways of thinking. Powell meets with Bush and says how he believes that if the U.S. goes in to Iraq without the UN then the U.S. will be in trouble. Powell says that invading will make America look like a dictatorship and put our allies in trouble. _Act 2-_ Scene 12: The NSC reassembles and Cheney says that the story should be known as the “Crisis at the UN” so that it is no longer about America's wrongdoing but instead makes it about the UN and whether they can deliver or not. Scene 13: Palestinians believe that the UN is a double standard because the UN only does things that benefit themselves but ignore what benefits the countries outside of the UN. The UN condemns the idea of terrorism but they allow the countries in the Middle East to murder themselves. Scene 14: Cheney states on a TV studio that defeating Iraq would be a crucial hit to the base of terrorism before terrorism is able to escalate to nuclear weapons. Blair is still frustrated because he can't legally allow Britain to go to war because there isn't enough evidence of there being a threat. Blair then tries to get enough information from his resources in order to get enough evidence to make an invasion legal. Bush addresses to the general assembly that the first time the world finds out that Saddam has nuclear weapons will be when he uses one and it becomes too late. Scene 15: Powell meets with some members of the UN to discuss Iraq and Saddam. De Villepin thinks that the U.S. decided on the process to invade Iraq without coming up with the purpose for it. The U.S. have been leaving out other countries when it comes to their decisions for the last two years so the rest of the UN are cautious when it comes to making plans with the U.S. The French will help the U.S. if their goal is to disarm Saddam but won't help if the goal is to fully invade Iraq. Scene 16: The House voted 296 to 133 which allows Bush to deploy armed forces when it is necessary and appropriate. The British Parliament believe that Bush will prematurely attack Iraq just to gain more power and oil. Bush however says that he wants to go through the UN and only disarm Saddam, he doesn't want there to be a war. The U.S. and the French agree to having the “Resolution 1441” which allows any member state to defend itself against the threat of Iraq. Scene 17: Iraq inspectors commit to produce a full description of their chemical facilities. Saddam won't admit that he has the deadly weapons that the UN are looking for. There is controversy in Britain because some people believe that the Britain should be able to help the U.S. and some say that they should wait. Blair has no idea what his further actions are because Saddam wasn't any help and Blair has to keep calling Bush. Scene 18: This scene is about the option of a British person on the United States. The person goes on about how America is attacking an area where there are no terrorist connections instead of going after the area where there is a known connection. Scene 19: The French make a secret offer to the U.S. that if there are no more resolutions brought up at the UN, then the French will drop their opposition on the war. Powell doesn't think the U.S. should act without talking about it with Blair first. The U.S. then rejects the offer by the French. Scene 20: Rumsfeld thinks the U.S. should stop listening to the European countries because the Europeans care more about how the U.S. will react rather than Saddam. Debate breaks out among the American officials about whether the UN is useful and if they should wait on Blair to get permission from him in order to carry out their actions. Bush becomes worried that the British government might end up collapsing. Powell will be in charge of giving the presentation to the UN showing the powerful case the U.S. has for going to war. Scene 21: There have been over 400 inspections across over 300 different sites and there still hasn't been any sign of Iraq having any weapons capable of mass destruction. The UN inspectors need time in order to be able to successfully complete their mission. There are 100 million people protesting across 600 cities demanding that the inspectors get more time to finish their mission instead of just going straight to war. Scene 22: Britain, Spain, and the U.S. agree to have a new resolution which allows authorization to use force. They need votes from the Security Council in order to successfully pass the resolution. The British would benefit from putting the statement of the new resolution out the next day because it is believed that no matter the circumstance, the French would vote no on it which would get rid of the second resolution all together without it being the Britain's fault. Blair announces that the attempts to pass the new resolution will no longer continue because Chirac provided pointless diplomacy. Bush commits to working towards peace between Israel and Palestine in order to help the British Parliament survive. Right before dawn in Baghdad, the air raid sirens were a sign that the war was just beginning. Scene 23: This scene is the ending scene that portrays the aftermath of the Iraq War. The military campaign ends after just 42 days. It will cost nearly a trillion dollars in order to reconstruct Iraq. Powell resigns from the administration during the next election. In an interview, Powell admits that the facts they were given at the time of action, ended up being wrong. Scene 24: This scene is the last scene in the play. It focuses on an Iraqi exile. The Iraqi generally states that the American dead are more honored than the dead of the Iraqis. The Iraqi also states that Iraq was crucified for Saddam Hussein's sins. The Iraqi also states that the people of Iraq are to blame because they didn't take charge of their own country, which allowed Saddam to take control of Iraq. 

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Sidney Stratton, a brilliant young research chemist and former Cambridge scholarship recipient, has been dismissed from jobs at several textile mills in the north of England because of his demands for expensive facilities and his obsession with inventing an everlasting fibre. Whilst working as a labourer at the Birnley Mill, he accidentally becomes an unpaid researcher and invents an incredibly strong fibre which repels dirt and never wears out. From this fabric, a suit is made—which is brilliant white because it cannot absorb dye and slightly luminous because it includes radioactive elements. Stratton is lauded as a genius until both management and the trade unions realise the consequence of his invention; once consumers have purchased enough cloth, demand will drop precipitously and put the textile industry out of business. The managers try to trick and bribe Stratton into signing away the rights to his invention but he refuses. Managers and workers each try to shut him away, but he escapes. The climax sees Stratton running through the streets at night in his glowing white suit, pursued by both the managers and the employees. As the crowd advances, his suit begins to fall apart as the chemical structure of the fibre breaks down with time. The mob, realising the flaw in the process, rip pieces off his suit in triumph, until he is left standing in his underwear. Only Daphne Birnley, the mill-owner's daughter, and Bertha, a works labourer, have sympathy for his disappointment. The next day, Stratton is dismissed from his job. Departing, he consults his chemistry notes. A realisation hits and he exclaims, "I see!" With that he strides off, perhaps to try again elsewhere. 

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As the story unfolds, Phillip reflects on the major incidents in the life of his once well-to-do family, which was forced to leave Nashville during the time of the Great Depression after the older Mr. Carver, a distinguished lawyer, lost a great deal of money in failed investments with his then-friend and business associate Lewis Shackleford. Though this happened when the four Carver children were still in their teens, they recall the event as a great betrayal, and the resulting move had a major impact on them and continues to affect their abilities to build stable relationships and function as adults. Their lives were further dominated by their father as he ended romantic relationships for his children if he disapproved of them for any reason. Ultimately, the oldest Carver son would join the army and die in World War II. Neither Phillip nor his sisters ever marry. His sisters maintain an odd continued adolescence well into their fifties, dressing as though they were still attractive teenagers. Phillip moves to New York and lives with a younger woman whom he will never marry. The "summons" to Memphis in the book's title refers to several events, but chiefly a call by Phillip's sisters to return and help them block their then- octogenarian father from remarrying after the death of their mother. The book is a rumination on the responsibilities of parents, friendships between men, the relationship between the "old" and "new" south, the nature of revenge and the possibility of forgiveness. 

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Around 2000 years after his defeat in the original game, the mysterious Grandmaster has returned once again to finish his plans and claim total control over the world. However, Strider Hiryu, a Strider carrying the same codename of the man who slew the Grandmaster in the past, has also surfaced. According to Capcom, this version of Hiryu is a clone of the original Hiryu created by the Strider organization in order to reincarnate Hiryu back from the dead. As one of the last survivors after the Striders were wiped out, he carries the mission to destroy the Grandmaster once and for all. 

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God's Army is about Mormon missionaries as they struggle with their work and, almost inevitably, their faith. The movie focuses on a pair of missionaries, Elder Allen (Brown) and Elder Dalton (Dutcher) serving as missionaries in Los Angeles, California ("Elder" is an office in the Priesthood and a title male LDS missionaries use while serving missions). Dalton is a seasoned missionary and Allen is a new recruit paired with Dalton to be trained. Allen questions his reason for being on a mission. He is a somewhat faithful member of the church, but his father was excommunicated from the church and his mother doesn't attend anymore. Dalton proves to be a demanding taskmaster and he demands much of Allen--almost too much in Allen's eyes. Allen teeters on the brink of leaving his two-year mission almost as soon as it begins. Allen witnesses another missionary lose his faith and abandon his own mission. Allen changes his mind as he finds the sacrifices others have made to be on a mission, such as ostricization from family. His own companion, Elder Dalton, dropped out of medical school to serve a mission and is fighting a losing battle with brain cancer. After a trial of his faith and some earnest soul searching, Allen finds untapped courage and embraces his work as a messenger of God. 

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At the time the series was made smoking was prohibited in the offices of most British companies, but there was often a room in the building that smokers could use during work hours. The series is entirely set in the smoking room (Room B209, although, in the second season, the sign on one door says B211) in the basement of the offices of a fictitious company. Most of the people seen in the smoking room are workers in the building. Room B209 is L-shaped and contains office-style tables and chairs, and a hot drinks machine which often malfunctions. It has two doors that lead to the same corridor and is drably decorated in a dull yellow with signs of water damage on one wall. Company related notices adorn the walls and old furniture and office equipment is stacked in the corner. Only occasional glimpses of the outside world are seen through the room's misted glass. Although each episode contains a distinct storyline, the series is fundamentally character and dialogue driven. Each episode's story is generally self-contained although there are some ongoing story threads, such as the gradual revelation of Robin's sexuality to the other characters and his unrequited infatuation with Ben from the post room. 

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After the asteroid Orpheus in the Asteroid Belt is hit by a meteor, dozens of asteroid fragments are sent on a collision course towards Earth, along with a five-mile fragment which will cause an extinction-level event. While the United States government engages in political maneuvering, the smaller asteroid fragments preceding the main body wreak havoc on the planet, revealing the threat. The United States has a secret orbiting nuclear missile platform satellite named Hercules, which was designed by Dr. Paul Bradley (Sean Connery). It was intended to defend Earth against a threat like Orpheus, but instead was commandeered by the U.S. Military to become an orbiting weapon now aimed at the Soviet Union. After many calculations, its determined that the fourteen nuclear missiles on board Hercules are not enough to stop the meteorite. The United States has known that the Soviet Union also has a similar weapons satellite called Peter the Great in orbit, with its sixteen nuclear warheads pointed down at that country. Needing the additional firepower to stop Orpheus, the President (Henry Fonda) goes on national television and reveals the existence of Hercules, explaining it was created to meet the threat that Orpheus represents. He also offers the Soviets a chance to save face by announcing they, too, had the same program and their own satellite weapon. To coordinate the counter-effort between the two countries, Bradley requests a Soviet scientist named Dr. Alexei Dubov (Brian Keith). Bradley and Harry Sherwood (Karl Malden) of NASA meet at the control center for Hercules, located beneath 195 Broadway in Lower Manhattan. Major General Adlon (Martin Landau) is the commander of the facility. Dubov and his interpreter Tatiana Donskaya (Natalie Wood) arrive, and Bradley gets to work on breaking the ice between them. Since Dubov cannot admit the existence of the Soviet device, he agrees to Bradley's proposal that they work on the "theoretical application" of how a "theoretical" Soviet space platform's weapons would be coordinated with the American platform. Meanwhile, more meteorite fragments strike Earth (one inside Siberia), and the Soviets finally agree to join in the effort. Both satellites are coordinated, and turned towards the incoming large asteroid as smaller fragments continue to strike the planet, causing great damage, including a deadly avalanche in the Swiss Alps and a tsunami which devastates Hong Kong. With hours remaining prior to Orpheus' impact, as planned, Peter the Greats missiles are launched first because of its relative position to the asteroid, with Herculess missiles timed to be fired 40 minutes later. Immediately prior to Herculess missiles being launched, a splinter fragment is discovered to be heading towards the command center in New York City. If the center is destroyed, Hercules will not be able to launch. With seconds to spare, Hercules receives the signal to fire from the command center, and launches its missiles. The splinter impacts the city, destroying the World Trade Center in a direct hit, and creating a large crater in Central Park. Several workers inside the control center are killed when the facility is partially destroyed by the collapse of the building above, and the survivors slowly work their way out of the control center by going through the New York subway system, which has become a trap due to water from the East River flooding the tunnels. Meanwhile, the two flights of missiles link up into three successively larger waves. The Hercules crew reaches a crowded subway station and waits while others try to dig them out. Eventually, the missiles reach the meteoroid. The first wave of missiles strikes the rock, causing a small explosion, the second wave follows with a larger blast, and the third wave creates an enormous explosion. When the dust clears, the asteroid appears obliterated. In New York City, the radios broadcast the good news: Orpheus is no longer a danger to Earth. Just then, the subway station occupants are rescued. Later, at an airport, Dubov, Tatiana, Bradley and others exchange goodbyes before Dubov and Tatiana depart on a plane for the Soviet Union. 

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Orlando's family consist of his wife Grace, and three kittens: Blanche (white), Pansy (tortoiseshell) and Tinkle (black). The family, especially Orlando, get involved in many adventures together and make friends as they do so. They can range from going to the moon (Orlando Goes to the Moon), becoming a replacement judge (Orlando the Judge) or to keeping a large black poodle dog (Orlando (the Marmalade Cat): Keeps a Dog). 

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Set mainly in the Boston area and in rural New Hampshire, its main characters are a 12-year-old girl, Michelle Martel, with leukemia and her father, Charles Martel, a former allergist turned cancer researcher, as well as her stepmother Cathryn and her two older brothers, Chuck and Jean- Paul. After falling ill one winter morning, Michelle is hospitalized, diagnosed with acute myeloblastic leukemia, and given experimentally high doses of chemotherapy, to which her father objects, since it has no effect on her leukemia and weakens her with side effects. Cathryn, a former receptionist at the fictional Weinberger Institute in Cambridge, Massachusetts, where Charles has worked since turning to cancer research, has little medical knowledge and only wants what is best for her stepchildren, and feels torn between her husband and Michelle's well-meaning but conventional doctors. Charles then traces Michelle's leukemia and a neighbor boy's fatal aplastic anemia to benzene dumped into the river flowing past their house by a local rubber and plastic recycling plant owned by the same corporation that owns the Weinberger Institute and the pharmaceutical company that makes a cancer drug he is being forced to study, and discovers that he is surrounded by corruption, as family, colleagues and the authorities turn against him. He ends up valiantly trying an experimental treatment based on his own research on Michelle, desperately trying to save her life, while barricaded in his own home, sought by the police, and fighting off attacks by thugs hired by the recycling plant and its parent company which are condoned by the local authorities. 

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The player chooses one of six X-Men: Cyclops, Colossus, Wolverine, Storm, Nightcrawler or Dazzler. Their objective is to stop the villain Magneto from wreaking havoc on human civilization. They must fight through enemies from the comics such as an army of hundreds of Sentinels, mutant crocodiles, Reavers and supervillains such as Pyro, Blob, Wendigo, Nimrod, The White Queen, Juggernaut, and Mystique. Later, Magneto kidnaps Professor X and Kitty Pryde, prompting the heroes to go on a rescue mission. The heroes fight their way to Island M and ultimately to Magneto's base on Asteroid M where the final battle takes place. 

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At his mother's insistence, Mathabane starts school and learns to love it, rising to the top of his class in spite of frequent punishments due to his family's late payments for school fees and inability to afford school supplies. He graduates from primary school with a scholarship that will pay for his secondary education. Mathabane's grandmother becomes a gardener for a liberal white English family, the Smiths, who give Mathabane second hand comic books, novels and tennis equipment. His English improves greatly through reading these materials, and he begins to play tennis frequently. Mathabane eventually befriends a coloured tennis coach who trains him. Mathabane joins the high school tennis team and begins to play in tournaments, unofficially sponsored by Wilfred Horn, owner of the Tennis Ranch. It is technically illegal for Mark to play there, but the law is ignored and he becomes more comfortable with whites who frequent the Tennis Ranch. Eventually renowned tennis player Stan Smith takes Mathabane under his wing when the two meet at a tournament. Stan pays for Mathabane to compete in tournaments and talks to his coach at the University of Southern California about Mathabane attending college in the United States. The coach writes to colleges on his behalf, and Mathabane earns a tennis scholarship to Limestone College and leaves for the U.S. in 1978. 

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In New York City, Detective Eddie Santos and mob figure Tino Zapatti kill each other in a shootout; a stray bullet also kills a child passing by. In the wake of the tragedy, questions are raised as to why Judge Walter Stern, an old friend of the ambitious Mayor John Pappas, had previously set the criminal responsible free on probation. Pappas' loyal deputy mayor, Kevin Calhoun, decides to dig for answers. Meanwhile, legal aid Marybeth Cogan uncovers a conspiracy to smear Santos. Calhoun's investigation leads to Frank Anselmo, a Brooklyn politician who has connections to Tino's uncle, crime boss Paul Zapatti. Anselmo plants money at Zapatti's behest to frame Santos. Calhoun and Cogan continue to seek the truth from a number of sources, including Santos' partner and another Zapatti relative. After the murder of probation officer Larry Schwartz, they ultimately conclude that Judge Stern had to be on the take. Pappas agrees that Stern must resign. The scandal snowballs to the point where Zapatti instructs Anselmo to commit suicide rather than become an informer or go to jail. To protect his family, Anselmo shoots himself. Calhoun uncovers evidence that Pappas put Stern together with Anselmo to receive a bribe and leave the young Zapatti on the street. Calhoun soon tells Pappas there is only one choice—to quit as mayor and leave politics for good. ("You're gonna take yourself out, John. You're gonna take yourself out.") 

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Modesty Blaise is working as a croupier in a casino in Tangier. A group of violent criminals assassinate her employer and enter the casino shooting staff and demanding entry to the casino's safe. Modesty delays her retaliation and retribution as she protects the lives of her staff. When the criminals kill the only person who can open the safe, Modesty arranges for a fellow employee to arrive who has the password for the computer that holds the details of the entry to the vault. As the criminals and their captives await the individual, Modesty takes on the leader of the criminals at the game of roulette. They agree that if she wins twice in a row a captive sworn to not tell what happened is released; when she loses she has to tell the truth about her background to the leader of the criminals who has become fascinated by her. She relates her life story little by little in the manner of Scheherazade. Modesty tells her life story in flashback beginning as an orphaned child in a refugee camp in the Balkans, to her meeting her mentor who teaches her his knowledge of various languages and martial arts until his death in Algeria where she makes her way to Tangier and becoming a croupier. The criminals eventually enter the safe but are confronted with a revenging Modesty. The time setting of the film is kept vague. Although flashback sequences involving warfare invoke World War II or other conflicts in the late 1940s and early 1950s (in keeping with the original comic strip), Modesty as an adult is shown using computers and other current (for 2004) technology. 

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Matko Destanov, a small-time Romani smuggler and profiteer, lives with his teenage son Zare in a ramshackle house by the Danube River in eastern Serbia near the Bulgarian border. He has plans to steal a whole train of smuggled fuel. To obtain a loan that would subsidize the heist, he visits Grga Pitić, a wheelchair-bound old gangster, who is an old friend of Zarije Destanov, Matko's father and Zare's grandfather. Matko plots the details of the job with an ally named Dadan, a rich, fun-living, drug-snorting gangster who has a harem, juggles grenades, and cheats at gambling. However, Dadan double-crosses him and glitches up the deal by giving Matko a drink that is drugged, and carrying out the job while Matko is unconscious. Matko is unable to repay his loan, so Dadan makes a deal whereby he would forgive the debt if Zare marries Afrodita, Dadan's dwarf sister. However, Zare (17) is in love with Ida (26), a barmaid who works in an establishment run by her Roma grandmother Sujka, and Afrodita is waiting for the man of her dreams. Dadan coerces Afrodita into marrying by dunking her in a well, while Zare first learns of the scheme to marry him off from Ida, who has overheard Dadan and Matko plotting it in the restaurant where she works. Meanwhile, Zare retrieves Zarije from the hospital where he is being kept, with the aid of a gypsy band. Grga Pitić is having problems of his own, as he wants his grandsons, including six-foot plus giant Grga Veliki, to get married. The two reluctantly endure the wedding ceremony held at Matko's house, which Dadan refuses to postpone despite the sudden apparent death of Zarije. They were not supposed to have a wedding while in mourning, but Dadan decides to delay the death announcement, so Matko and Zare hide Zarije's body in the attic, packed in ice. Ida and Sujka provide the catering for the wedding, and Ida is upset at seeing her beloved married to someone else. However, the bride runs away mid-ceremony, pursued by Dadan, Matko and Dadan's criminal cronies. Meanwhile, Grga Veliki is driving his father and brother to Matko's house so that they may visit Zarije's grave (Grga Pitić and Zarije old friends). The fleeing bride stumbles across Grga Veliki, and the couple fall instantly in love. Grga Pitić arrives on the scene, after his wheelchair had fallen out the back of the truck and rolled downhill, and he is delighted that Grga Veliki has found his mate. The old gangster forces Dadan, who had once worked for him, to accept the match. The groom conspires with Sujka and Ida to bring Dadan down a peg, and rigs the outhouse so that the seat will come apart. While the preparations for the wedding ceremony of Afrodita and Grga Veliki are being conducted, Matko and Dadan pass the time by playing dice, with Dadan cheating. Sujka comes in during the game, and serves the unsuspecting Dadan a drink spiked with a laxative. Grga Pitić apparently dies, and Dadan and Matko hide his body in the attic, where Zarije's body is also hidden. However, the two corpses soon both come back to life; they were not dead after all. They are surprised to find themselves together, as they had not seen each other for 25 years and each had thought the other was dead. During the ceremony, Dadan starts to feel uncomfortable and rushes into the outhouse, only to fall into the manure. His harem and cronies desert him, and as he tries to clean himself off on a goose, only Matko remains loyal, and he provides Dadan with a shower from the garden hose. Zare grabs the wedding official at gunpoint and orders him to solemnize his marriage with his sweetheart, Ida, and the two sail off together on a riverboat set for Bulgaria with a fistful of cash stashed in his grandfather's accordion, the blessing of their respective grandparents and, as witnesses, a black cat and a white cat. 

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During the French Revolution, Marquis d'Apcher writes his memoirs in his castle. He recounts to 1764, when a mysterious beast terrorized the province of Gévaudan. Grégoire de Fronsac, a knight and the royal naturalist of King Louis XV of France, and his Iroquois companion Mani, arrive to capture the beast. Fronsac grows to romance Marianne de Morangias, the daughter of a local count, whose brother, Jean-François, was also an avid hunter and a world traveller. Fronsac is also intrigued by Sylvia, an Italian courtesan at the local brothel. While investigating another victim, Fronsac finds a fang made of steel. A traumatized child witness swears that the beast is controlled by what seems to be a human master. As the investigation proves unfruitful, the king's weapons master, Lord de Beauterne, arrives to put an end to the beast, and Fronsac is sent back in Paris. He realizes that the beast is actually an instrument of a secret society: The Brotherhood of the Wolf, which is working to undermine public confidence in the king and ultimately take over the country. Back in Gévaudan, the attacks by the real beast continue, and Fronsac returns to put an end to the beast's killings. At a secret rendezvous with Marianne, they are attacked by the beast, where it mysteriously refrains from attacking her. Fronsac, Mani, and a young Marquis set out into the forest and set up an array of traps to capture the beast; it is severely injured but escapes. Mani sets off alone in pursuit, where he finds a catacomb used as the beast's holding pen, inhabited by the Brotherhood. Outnumbered, Mani is shot and killed. Fronsac discovers Mani's body and performs an autopsy, finding a silver bullet—Jean-François' signature choice of ammunition. In a fit of rage, a vengeful Fronsac goes to the catacombs and slaughters many members, but is overpowered by the local authorities and imprisoned. Sylvia visits him in jail and reveals that she is a spy for the Holy See. She explains that Henri Sardis, the local priest and leader of the Brotherhood, believes that he is restoring worship of God to France. Pope Clement XIII has decided that Sardis is insane, and sent her to eliminate him. She then poisons Fronsac, saying he knows too much. Meanwhile, Jean-François comes to Marianne's room and reveals to her that he is the beast's master; it recognized his scent on her when it came near her, which is why it did not attack. He then rapes her when she rejects his advances of love. Sylvia's agents exhume Fronsac, who had not been killed but merely put into a temporary coma, and he appears at one of the Brotherhood's sermons. He kills several members, including Jean-François. Sardis escapes into the mountains, but is mauled to death by a pack of wolves. Fronsac and Marquis go to the beast's lair, where it lays severely wounded. It turns out the beast was the last surviving offspring of a creature that Jean-François brought back from Africa, and was tortured into becoming vicious and dressed in metal armor plating and spikes. Fronsac takes pity and kills the beast in an act of mercy. Marquis finishes writing his account, just before he is led to his execution by a revolutionary mob. He states that he doesn't know what happened to Fronsac and Marianne after the death of the beast; but he hopes that somewhere, they are happy together. 

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Despite characters, themes and weapons similar to samurai cinema set in Feudal Japan Bushido Blade takes place during the modern era (this is shown, for example, when the player reaches the helicopter landing pad phase set in a large city). A fictional, 500-year-old dojo known as Meikyokan lies within this region, and teaches the disciplines of the master Narukagami Shinto. A society of assassins known as Kage ("Shadow") also resides within the dojo. Once led by the honorable swordsman Utsusemi, he lost his position to Hanzaki, another skilled member of the dojo, in a fierce battle. Hanzaki gained respect as the Kage leader, until he discovered a cursed sword known as Yugiri. He began to change, disregarding the group's honor and the traditions held by its students. One day, a Kage member escapes the confines of the dojo with its secrets. Several other members of the society, under penalty of death, are sent to dispatch the defector, only catching up to him (or her) within the ruins of the surrounding Yin and Yang Labyrinth Castle. In single player mode the players take on the role of the escaped assassin (independent of whatever character they choose), fighting their way out by killing their comrades one by one. Elements of the game story differ with each character selected. 

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Anna Foster (Mandy Moore) is the daughter of President of the United States James Foster (Mark Harmon). After Secret Service agents ruin a first date, Anna demands less supervision. For his upcoming trip to Prague, the president agrees to assign only two agents to watch over Anna, whose Secret Service codename is Liberty. In Prague, Anna and her friend Gabrielle La Clare (Beatrice Rosen) attend a concert, where Anna discovers numerous agents in the crowd. Believing her father has broken his promise, Anna eludes her protectors with Gabrielle's help. Outside the theater, she asks Ben Calder (Matthew Goode) for a ride on his motorbike. Unknown to Anna, Ben is a Secret Service agent, and he informs agents Alan Weiss (Jeremy Piven) and Cynthia Morales (Annabella Sciorra) where she can be found. When the president learns of her behavior, he instructs Ben to guard Anna without revealing his true identity, to give her the illusion of freedom with a guarantee of safety. Believing she is finally free, Anna jumps into the Vltava River naked, mistaking it for the Danube, and she and Ben climb a rooftop to watch an Offenbach opera being shown in a plaza. The next morning, Anna calls her parents. Initially relieved that his daughter is safe, the President's tone changes when he is shown photos of her undressing. Outraged at her father's tone, Anna decides she will go to the Love Parade in Berlin. She and Ben board a train, where they meet Scotty McGruff (Martin Hancock), a flighty romantic who gives them a stack of Six Million Dollar Man stickers, instructing them to post them in random places, and one day when they are unhappy, they may come across one and it will make them smile. Ben discovers that they have boarded a Venice-bound train going in the opposite direction from Berlin. In Venice, after checking in with agents Weiss and Morales—who are now growing closer romantically—Ben joins Anna and McGruff and together they explore the city. After McGruff leaves, Anna realizes he has stolen her wallet. When Anna is recognized by tourists, she and Ben flee. With no money, they tell a kind-hearted gondolier, Eugenio (Joseph Long), that they recently married against her parents' wishes. During the free gondola ride, Ben kisses Anna to hide her from their pursuers. When he learns the "newlyweds" have no place to stay, Eugenio invites them to his house, where they are welcomed by his mother, Maria (Miriam Margolyes). That night, thinking their kiss was heartfelt, Anna offers herself to Ben, but he rejects her advances. The next day, Eugenio drives them to the Austrian border, as Weiss and Morales show up at Maria's house and learn from Maria that Anna and Ben are married, which is then reported to Anna's parents, causing a confusion. Upset at Ben's rejection, Anna hitchhikes a ride in a truck, leaving Ben to chase her through the Austrian countryside. Anna comes to a bridge, where she meets the Jumping Germans, a bungee jumping group. Ben arrives just as Anna is being strapped into the harness, and insists on jumping with her. Later that evening at the Jumping Germans' camp, one of the Germans asks Anna to share his tent for the night. She refuses and flirts with Ben, who rejects her advances again. Upset, she declares that she will share the German's tent after all; Ben finally admits his feelings for Anna and they spend the night together. At the Love Parade, as Ben explains his actions on the phone to his fellow agents, Anna discovers his identity. Enraged at the apparent betrayal, Anna runs off, only to be harassed by a group of men who recognize her. Ben rescues her, and Anna and her family return to the United States. While preparing for college, Anna reveals to her mother that her heart is "a little bit broken." At college, with Weiss and Morales (who plan to marry) still protecting her, Anna sees a Six Million Dollar Man sticker which reminds her of her European adventure. During Christmas break Anna's father tells her that Ben resigned from the Secret Service and is working as a photographer in London. During an exchange program to Oxford University Anna visits Ben at the opera, where they kiss, reconcile, and escape on his motorbike. 

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This dark comedy is set in a town that is regularly attacked by arsonists. Disguised as door-to-door salesmen (hawkers), they talk their way into people's homes and settle down in the attic, where they set about planning the destruction of the house. The first sketch was written in 1948 in response to the Communist takeover in Prague, but the play is often seen as a metaphor for Nazism and fascism, and Frisch encourages this through several allusions. The play shows how "normal" citizens can be taken in by evil.Hutchinson, Peter (1986). Biedermann und die Brandstifter. Routledge, p. 11-12, 86.Redmond, James (1979). Drama and Society. Cambridge University Press, p. 195. As a parable, in a more general sense it may be considered to be descriptive of the gullible and easily manipulated aspects of the German Biedermann – the Everyman – who yearns both for a sense of shallow propriety as well as for a deeper sense of belonging, even if it comes at a great price, including that which is sensible or even necessary for his own survival. In that sense, the play shares much with absurdist plays written at around the same time, such as Eugene Ionesco's Rhinoceros. The central character, a businessman called Biedermann, is seen at the outset reading newspaper reports of arson, convinced that he could never be taken in. Within minutes, the first "hawker" has appeared (Schmitz), and through a combination of intimidation and persuasion he talks his way into spending the night in the attic. As the play unfolds, a second arsonist appears (Eisenring), and before Biedermann can do anything to stop it, his attic is piled high with oil drums full of petrol. He even helps them to measure the detonating fuse and gives them matches, refusing to believe the full horror of what is happening. He soon becomes an accomplice in his own downfall. The action is observed by a Greek-style chorus of "firemen", and the increasingly surreal flavour culminates in a final scene, the afterpiece, where Biedermann and his wife Babette find themselves at the gates of Hell. Here they once again meet Schmitz and Eisenring who turn out to be Beelzebub and the Devil respectively, who, after becoming angered at the number of mass murderers being allowed to go to Heaven, refuses to conduct a Hell for a "small fry" like Biedermann. The name Biedermann is itself a play on the German word "bieder" meaning conventional, conservative, worthy, honest, upright and is frequently used in a pejorative or ironic context. Thus the name equates to der biedere Mann or the worthy man. Bieder derives from Biedermeier, a cultural style of the 19th century prominent for its association with a type of petite-bourgeois mindset. 

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Donald Morton (Josh Hartnett) is a taxi driver and drives two Japanese passengers and his pet cockatiel around Spokane, Washington. Distracted, he bumps into the back of a florist's van, damaging his stock. Unfazed, Donald and his budgie take their groceries and leave, abandoning his taxi cab and passengers. He takes his groceries to the self-help group for autistic adults. Before they head to the park to meet another autistic group, he tells one member, Gracie (Rusty Schwimmer), to gather the women and he'll gather the guys to practice telling personal stories, but keeps getting distracted by performing mathematical sums of the microwaves' depleting numbers. He notices that Isabelle Sorenson (Radha Mitchell), a new name, has signed up and tells Gracie to let her go first. At the park, Isabelle tells the women of a childhood memory: she saw that her parents were happy an Olympian had broken a record, so in order to please her parents, and taking what she heard literally, she broke their music records. Donald tells his story to the men about his ability to do complex sums but couldn't make friends. Isabelle goes on to tell of when she was raped when she went hitch-hiking. This causes Gracie to laugh manically. Heard by Donald, he tries to calm an angry Isabelle down and they find that they have much in common and take a liking to each other. After Isabelle talks to Gregory (John Carroll Lynch), a man also in the group who is taking notes on a notepad, he calls Donald over to ask Isabelle if she may escort him to a Halloween party on his behalf. Before Donald has the chance, however, Isabelle asks Donald out for lunch. They go to the zoo the following day where Isabelle asks Donald to escort her instead of Gregory. They agree to meet in-costume Halloween night. Donald dresses as a whale but decides against attending, ultimately leaving Isabelle, dressed as Mozart, waiting. She goes to his apartment and they decide to take a walk about town and talk until the final bus is due when they share their first kiss. Unsure when to call, Donald leaves multiple messages on her phone; she finally answers and they go to the amusement park. During a ring toss, the clanging of the metal rings hitting the bottles and the ringing of a bell cause Isabelle to scream and collapse on the floor. Donald takes her back to his filthy apartment and they agree to sleep together. The following day at the self-help group, Gregory accuses Donald of exploiting his position for sexual favors. Meanwhile, Isabelle occupies herself by waiting with Bronwin (Erica Leerhsen), a member of group who recently learned that her father has blood cancer, until her parents pick her up. Isabelle takes the liberty of cleaning his apartment while he goes shopping. When he returns, he's horrified to see that everything is different; the piles of newspaper are stacked neatly, rotting food from the fridge is thrown away and has a new shower curtain. He gets angry at Isabelle for changing everything. He later leaves a number of apologetic messages on Isabelle's phone. The next day, he goes to the hair salon where Isabelle works as a hair stylist to apologize in person, and Isabelle forgives him, introducing him as her boyfriend to the staff. Isabelle shows Donald an abandoned rooftop, calling this a place where people who don't know where they belong can belong. She suggests that they can buy a house and her therapist has organised a job interview for a statistic analyst post at a university. He gets the job and they move into their new house, making it their own. Donald tells Isabelle that he wants everything to be nice for when his boss, Wallace (Gary Cole) comes for dinner. Believing that he thinks that she doesn't keep the house nice, Isabelle spites Donald by keeping the pets uncaged, much to Donald's shock when he returns, and she maintains extroverted behavior and tells of her off-the-wall plans for the house. Donald explodes, but when Isabelle says that they are both crazy, he retaliates by telling her that she is crazier, which leads to her throwing him out. He stays with Gregory in his house, and after listening to an answer message that Isabelle's rabbit, Bongo, has died, he runs to comfort her. Isabelle suggests that they should just be friends. Donald invites Isabelle to a restaurant, where he proposes to her, much to Isabelle's dismay. She leaves abruptly back home and overdoses. Donald returns just in time to take her to the hospital, where Isabelle's psychiatrist advises him to leave her alone, testing his willpower to refrain from calling her. Donald sees Isabelle leaving the university and follows her to the abandoned rooftop, where he expresses that the only nice thing he had left to give her was not to call, to find that Isabelle was waiting for his call and she missed him. They express their true love with an embrace and kiss. The movie ends with the happy couple in their home, enjoying Thanksgiving dinner with the self-help group. 

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John Carter, a Confederate veteran of the American Civil War, goes prospecting in Arizona immediately after the war's end. Having struck a rich vein of gold, he runs afoul of the Apaches. While attempting to evade pursuit by hiding in a sacred cave, he is mysteriously transported to Mars, called "Barsoom" by its inhabitants. Carter finds that he has great strength and superhuman agility in this new environment as a result of its lesser gravity and lower atmospheric pressure. He soon falls in with a nomadic tribe of Green Martians, or Tharks, as the planet's warlike, six-limbed, green-skinned inhabitants are known. Thanks to his strength and martial prowess, Carter rises to a high position in the tribe and earns the respect and eventually the friendship of Tars Tarkas, one of the Thark chiefs. The Tharks subsequently capture Dejah Thoris, Princess of Helium, a member of the humanoid red Martian race. The red Martians inhabit a loose network of city-states and control the desert planet's canals, along which its agriculture is concentrated. Carter rescues Dejah Thoris from the green men in a bid to return her to her people. Subsequently, Carter becomes embroiled in the political affairs of both the red and green Martians in his efforts to safeguard Dejah Thoris, eventually leading a horde of Tharks against the city-state of Zodanga, the historic enemy of Helium. Winning Dejah Thoris' heart, he becomes Prince of Helium, and the two live happily together for nine years. However, the sudden breakdown of the Atmosphere Plant that sustains the planet's waning air supply endangers all life on Barsoom. In a desperate attempt to save the planet's inhabitants, Carter uses a secret telepathic code to enter the factory, bringing an engineer along who can restore its functionality. Carter then succumbs to asphyxiation, only to awaken back on Earth, left to wonder what has become of Barsoom and his beloved. 

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Hotshot firefighter Jack Morrison (Joaquin Phoenix) saves a man's life in a massive four-alarm fire in a 20-story concrete grain elevator/warehouse in the Canton waterfront neighborhood of Baltimore, Maryland. However the grain being stored in the warehouse explodes, causing Jack to fall through several floors and break his leg. The film follows the efforts of the other men in his unit, Ladder Company 49, led by the commands of Deputy Chief Mike Kennedy (John Travolta), Jack's mentor, to rescue him while Morrison tries to reach a safe area of the burning structure. Interspersed with the current rescue efforts are a series of flashbacks showing how Jack joined the fire department, his first meeting (at a supermarket) with the woman who would eventually become his wife (Jacinda Barrett), his relationship with his children, and the bonds he formed and the trials and tribulations he endured with his fellow firefighters. After graduating from the fire academy, Jack is sent to work on Baltimore City Fire Department (BCFD) Engine Company 33, in the busiest firehouse in the city. Quartered with Engine 33 is Ladder Company 49. On Engine 33, Jack learns the ropes of firefighting. He quickly becomes close friends with his fellow firefighters, including Mike, his Captain at the time. Jack's first fire takes place at a burning vacant rowhouse. Engine 33 and Ladder 49 respond and are the first companies on the scene. Jack and Mike enter the building with a hose line and tackle the blaze, with Jack on the nozzle of the hose. They quickly and triumphantly extinguish it. After some time working on Engine 33, Jack arrives at the scene of another vacant rowhouse fire, where a fellow firefighter from Ladder 49, Dennis Gauquin (Billy Burke), dies after falling through the roof of a building. After a quarrel between the firefighters, the Captain tells them to stick together. Later, Numerous firefighters attend Dennis's funeral. Jack decides, although it is more dangerous, to take his late friend's position as a "truckie", a search and rescue member on Ladder 49 by transferring to the Truck. As the years go by, Jack suffers some traumatic experiences, including rescuing a man from the ledge of a burning high-rise building in Downtown Baltimore, and witnessing another friend and fellow firefighter from Ladder 49, Tommy Drake (Morris Chestnut), suffer severe burns following a steam explosion at an industrial building. He finds the work rewarding, but his wife initially worries about his safety and opposes the change. However, she eventually accepts his new role and even talks him out of taking an administrative position that Mike, who has now become a Deputy Chief, offers him. One Christmas Eve, Jack and the members of Engine 33 and Ladder 49 respond to a burning apartment building. Jack is able to rescue a young girl trapped in an engulfed apartment, but is briefly trapped himself before being rescued by a fellow Firefighter from Ladder 49, Leonard "Lenny" Richter (Robert Patrick). Both men receive the department's Medal of Valor for their actions. Back at the grain building fire that opened the film, Jack's fellow firefighters become extremely determined to rescue him, and Jack does his best to reach the only possible safe area Mike tells him about. However, upon reaching that room he sees that the only exit is cut off by raging flames. Out of air and with the heat intensifying, Jack realizes that his situation is hopeless. He radios Mike to pull his men back so no one else will be killed or hurt while trying to rescue him, and accepts his fate to die in the fire. Mike reluctantly agrees and commands all rescue units to evacuate the building, devastating Mike. At Jack's funeral, Mike delivers an emotional eulogy in celebration of Jack's life, which inspires a standing ovation from friends and family in attendance. Jack's body is then carried to his resting place, with full honors, on the back of Engine 33 in a typical fireman's funeral procession. The film ends with Mike and the guys en route to a call while the former flashes back to Jack and his fellow firefighters going to fires and a final shot of Mike and Jack coming out of Jack's first ever burning building in triumph. 

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The story chronicled the battle between the crew of the semi-transformable carrier Daikū Maryū (also called the Kargosaur in the Shogun Warriors toyline, and also known as the Great Space Dragon in the US English dub) and the Super Robot Gaiking invented by Dr. Daimonji (Prof. Hightech in the English-language version of the show or Dr. Diamond in Spanish version) against an invading race of aliens called the Dark Horror Army. This army hails from the planet Zela whose home planet is facing destruction by their star, Sigma, turning into a black hole as their population starts to become extinct. Notable aspects of the series include the dinosaur-based designs of the Daikū Maryū and its support machines and the use of part of the carrier to form the main robot. The robot Gaiking was piloted by former baseball star named Sanshiro Tsuwabuki (Sanshiro's name was changed to Aries Astonopolis for the English version with the carrier being called the "Great Space Dragon", a literal translation of "Daikū Maryū". Likewise, for the Latin America version the main character was called Brando Drummond and the carrier "Gran Dragon del Espacio") who was drafted for the job because his latent psychic powers made him the only one capable of doing so, all other similarly empowered candidates having been assassinated by alien agents with he himself having been injured in an attack that ended his sports career. Gaiking is most easily distinguished from other mecha by its skull-shaped golden torso formed from the head of the Daikū Maryū and its golden horns. The leader of the Dark Horror Army was a robot scientist named Darius The Great or Dario el Grande in the Spanish version and all of their ships and mecha were fish-shaped, which most likely inspired the Darius series of video games. He uses four giant robotic leaders called the Death Cross Generals composed of Dr. Dankel, General Asimov, General Killer, and General Desmont. These generals used bomber-like spaceships called Grotectors to create artificial black hole vortexes to travel to Earth and back. Throughout the series the Death Cross Generals and Darius note that natives of Zela originally came to Earth for research purposes before slowly colonizing the planet and using it to hide various dark monsters with the rise of humanity, as far back as one million years before the start of the series until the twelfth century AD. For their military natives of Zela were brainwashed and genetically altered into birdmen called the dark avians with elite individuals becoming dark knights. 

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A scientist and inventor named Wayne Szalinski lives in a house in suburban Fresno, California, attempting to create a ray gun capable of shrinking objects, but cannot get it to work properly. His marriage to his wife, Diane, is strained, because she has to be the breadwinner, which worries their two children, teenage daughter Amy and preteen son Nick, who has inherited Wayne's inventive ingenuity and intelligence. One morning, their next door neighbors, Mae and Russ Thompson, are getting ready for a fishing trip, but their oldest son, Russ Jr. is less than enthusiastic, as his and his father’s interests often clash. However, their younger son, Ron is excited. Shortly after Wayne leaves for a conference, Ron accidentally hits his baseball through the Szalinskis' attic window, which inadvertently activates the machine and blocks its targeting laser. Caught by Russ Jr., he is made to confess to Amy and Nick. Ron and Nick go upstairs to retrieve the ball and clean up the mess, only for the machine to shrink them. At his conference, Wayne is dismissed for failing to provide proof of his shrinking machine and leaves in frustration, although he is given credit by Dr. Brainard, the only scientist at the conference who took Wayne and his idea seriously without wanting proof. Wayne appreciates Brainard's support and thanks him as they walk out together. Amy and Russ Jr. are shrunken when they go to check on Ron and Nick. When Wayne returns home, they try to get his attention, but their voices are too small and he is unable to hear them. Frustrated by his day, his thinking couch disappearing, and the broken window he discovers, he snaps and starts smashing the machine. He then sweeps the debris and the kids into a dust pan and takes them out in a trash bag. They escape from it, but are forced to cross the unmowed yard's wilderness to get back to the house. Meanwhile, Diane returns home from work and she and Wayne make up from an argument they had the previous evening, but they soon grow concerned about Amy and Nick. While trying to summon their dog, Quark, Nick falls into a flower and Russ Jr. are carried away by a pollen picking African bee. Wayne realizes that a baseball was what caused the attic window to break, since Nick does not play sports. Investigating, he discovers his thinking couch has been shrunk, and is happy that his machine finally works. But his happiness is only short lived when he realizes what happened to the kids and tries to find them, only to accidentally activate the sprinklers, causing chaotic torrents to come down on them. Amy nearly drowns when she is knocked into a pool of mud, but Russ Jr. saves her with mouth-to-mouth resuscitation. That evening, Russ and Mae are forced to call off their trip, because their sons haven't returned yet and they call the police to report them missing. Wayne tells Diane about what happened to the kids and she joins in the search. Eventually, she convinces Wayne to tell Russ and Mae, who are extremely skeptical. Meanwhile, the kids' hunger is saved by one of Nick's discarded oatmeal creme cookies, but their meal is interrupted by an ant scouting it. Ron decides to tame it in order to take them home and they quickly grow attached to "Antie" and try to set him free, but he instead decides to follow them like a pet. As night falls, the kids find a Lego block in which to camp for the night and Russ Jr. and Amy begin to make out after admitting their feelings for each other. However, they are interrupted by a scorpion, which traps Ron in the Lego. Antie comes to rescue Ron, but is fatally stung before the kids unite and wound the scorpion, driving it off. The next morning, Nick's friend, Tommy, returns to mow the lawn. The kids barely escape, seeking shelter in an earthworm burrow, and Wayne and Diane stop Tommy just in time to save them when they are blown out of the burrow by the lawnmower's blades. Quark chances upon them and while the kids are riding him into the house, Nick loses his grip and falls into Wayne's bowl of Cheerios. Wayne scoops Nick up in a spoonful of Cheerios, and appears destined to unknowingly eat his own son for breakfast. As Wayne opens his mouth to eat Nick, Quark bites Wayne in the ankle, making him aware of Nick and the others' presence. Back in the attic, the kids make Wayne realize that the laser was generating too much heat, causing things to explode, until it was blocked by the baseball. He corrects the mistake and Russ volunteers as a subject for a successful test. The kids are then returned to their normal sizes and reunited with their parents, all making up with each other. Months later, at Thanksgiving, the Szalinskis and Thompsons, now close friends, are toasting over an enlarged turkey. Russ Jr. and Amy are dating now, while Ron and Nick are friends, and Quark is eating from an enlarged Alpo bone. Nick finally gets a joke that Russ Jr. told him about learning CPR in "French" class, at which he laughs. 

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The novel describes the life of a young man (Frédéric Moreau) living through the revolution of 1848 and the founding of the Second French Empire, and his love for an older woman (based on the wife of the music publisher Maurice Schlesinger, who is portrayed in the book as Jacques Arnoux). Flaubert based many of the protagonist's experiences (including the romantic passion) on his own life. He wrote of the work in 1864: :"I want to write the moral history of the men of my generation—or, more accurately, the history of their feelings. It's a book about love, about passion; but passion such as can exist nowadays—that is to say, inactive." The novel's tone is by turns ironic and pessimistic; it occasionally lampoons French society. The main character, Frédéric, often gives himself over to romantic flights of fancy. 

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Johnny Dingle has been in love with Missy McCloud since they were kids. In his senior year of high school, he decides to fake a robbery at Missy’s job with his best friend, Eddie. He hopes that by stopping the "robbery" he will impress her and she will go to the prom with him. During the "robbery" a real robber holds Johnny and Missy at gunpoint. Thinking it is Eddie, Johnny dies taking a bullet meant for Missy. After the funeral, Johnny rises from the grave. He is greeted by Murray the gravedigger, who warns him that he can’t leave the cemetery. Johnny ignores him and goes back to his home. Missy is hesitant to be around Johnny, but changes her mind when her boyfriend Buck and his dim-witted friend Chuck discriminate against him for being a Zombie. They go on a date, which goes well until Missy accidentally rips Johnny’s ear off. Johnny goes to the town doctor, Dr. Bronson, who refers him to a woman named Maggie, the widow of a zombie. She tells Johnny that he needs to eat the flesh of the living to stop decaying. Johnny and Missy meet up at the library, where he’s attacked by Buck and Chuck. Chuck accidentally hits himself in the head with an ax and dies. Johnny eats Chuck's body, invoking the wrath of Chuck’s father, Big Chuck. Missy’s father, the town sheriff, tells Johnny to leave town for his own safety. Johnny doesn’t listen and returns to Missy at night, but leaves when he bites her arm. He’s captured by Dr.Bronson, who attempts to dissect Johnny and create a youth formula from his zombie cells. Johnny escapes when Big Chuck leads a mob to kill him, with Missy and Eddie helping him. He flees to the cemetery, where Murray, his parents, Eddie, and Missy defend him, earning him the town and the sheriff’s acceptance. Johnny and Missy dance, but Johnny begins to decay and dies. In Heaven, he’s told by the gatekeeper that he was not meant to die in the robbery, and he is sent back the moment before the robber entered. The events replay but Johnny survives this time due to the bullet hitting Missy’s locket. Johnny and Missy go to the prom as a couple. 

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MechAssault takes place in the BattleTech universe, a science-fiction universe that often centers around pitched battles between human-piloted walking, heavily armed and armored machines, called BattleMechs. The plot of the game centers around an inhabited planet called Helios in the dominion of the Inner Sphere, a powerful coalition of feuding factions in control of large areas of space. The player is a BattleMech pilot (referred to throughout the game as simply "Captain" or, "MechWarrior") in the employment of an elite mercenary organization called Wolf's Dragoons. The player's ship is hired to investigate the cessation of communications from the planet Helios. The Dragoons' ship, the Icarus arrives at the planet and is shot down upon entering the atmosphere, causing the ship to crash-land on the surface of Helios. It is later discovered by the player that a rogue technology-worshipping cult known as the Word of Blake has invaded and conquered Helios, and is under the rule of an iron-fisted fanatic called Commander Strader. The game follows the player as, commanded by elite officer Major Natalia and assisted by inept techie Lieutenant Foster, they fight the military forces of the cult, assist in the liberation of the planet from Word of Blake rule, and assassinate Commander Strader. 

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The film is a comedic mockumentary depicting the perspective of a filmmaker as she trails a hardcore gangsta rap group called N.W.H. ("Niggaz With Hats"), a play on the name of the popular group N.W.A In many ways, Fear of a Black Hat is similar to the satirical film about early 1980s heavy metal This is Spinal Tap. The members of N.W.H. are: *Ice Cold (Cundieff), the main rapper and the intelligent and vulgar backbone of the group. *Tasty Taste (Larry B. Scott), the ultra-violent secondary rapper who always seems to be armed with a variety of dangerous assault weaponry. His name is spelled "Tasty-Taste" in the credits but not in other parts of the movie. *Tone Def (Mark Christopher Lawrence), the esoteric DJ who is talented enough to scratch with his butt and his penis (the latter is not shown directly, but strongly and humorously implied). His name is spelled "Tone-Def" in the credits but not in other parts of the movie. The film is told from the point of view of Nina Blackburn (Kasi Lemmons), a sociologist who analyzes hip hop as a form of communication for her degree. She chooses N.W.H. as the subject of her thesis and follows them around for a year. She familiarizes herself with the band members, their beliefs, and their often strange behavior. The members wear outrageous headwear during their performances. This is explained as an act of rebellion, remembering their slave ancestors, who had to work bare-headed in the sun. According to N.W.H., hats are a symbol for resistance and revolution since their hatless ancestors were too tired from working all day in the sun to revolt. This is a typical example of the bizarre logic the group uses to explain the deeper meanings behind their otherwise crude and base music and images. A steady source of comedy is N.W.H.'s use of over-the-top graphic language (e.g. sex, violence and rantings against the police), which detractors see as a cheap means to sell records, but in their eyes is essential to convey a "socially relevant message". They offer jaw-dropping explanations why songs such as "Booty Juice" and "Come and Pet the P.U.S.S.Y." are in fact deep and socially significant, and that detractors obviously do not truly understand the "real meaning". Throughout the movie, it is difficult to tell if the members of N.W.H. truly believe what they are saying, or are just portraying an image. A lot of time also goes into describing N.W.H.'s feud with another rap group, the Jam Boys. The groups constantly insult and discredit each other, even sometimes resulting in brandishing weapons. At one point, N.W.H. brings to light evidence that the Jam Boys' lead rapper attended a prep school, directly threatening his street credibility. A macabre running gag—inspired by This is Spinal Tap—involves their white managers dying under mysterious circumstances (the group originally insist that they "wasn't in town when the shit happened"). They explain to Nina that their first few managers were black—in fact, were their relatives—and that they decided switching to white managers would be better for their families and the black community. N.W.H.'s internal matters turn sour when Ice Cold cuts down his involvement because he wants to participate in a film, and Cheryl C. (Rose Jackson), a groupie, hooks up with Tasty-Taste. Although she is clearly more interested in his money than in him, Tasty lets her take over his life. When Tasty finds Cheryl and Ice Cold in bed, N.W.H. is no more. The group breaks up and each member launches a solo career. Ice dedicates himself to house music; Tasty brings out a diss track in which he curses Ice; and Tone Def becomes a hippie (with obvious references to "flower rappers," such as P.M. Dawn). None sees much success until they ultimately reunite for a triumphant comeback in which their differences have been set aside, at least for the time being. 

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The plot is that of a black woman going to the dentist for a toothache and being given laughing gas. On her way walking home, and in other situations, she can't stop laughing, and everyone she meets "catches" the laughter from her, including a vendor and police officers. 

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Lionel Carpenter (Billy Crystal) is a night-school teacher who has bad luck with women. He remains a virgin until his brash cousin Danny (Alex Rocco) sets him up with a one-night stand. Soon after, Lionel starts feeling nauseated and vomits, eventually doing so onto Segoynia Savaka (Joan Prather), one of his immigrant students. This turns out to be a blessing in disguise, as it gives him an excuse to ask her out on a date, and a romance develops. When Lionel meets Segoynia's fortune-telling grandmother (played by Roddy McDowall in drag), she intuits that he is the world's first pregnant man. This results in a series of gags relating to his pregnancy and people's reactions to it. One side plot has Lionel being pursued by the Army because the President of the United States is afraid of what effect the widespread ability of men to conceive will have on population growth. In the ending sequence, which is patterned after the Nativity, Lionel finally goes into labor. The camera rises to Heaven, where God announces to the viewers the successful delivery: "Oh my god... It's a girl!" 

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A few months after the end of World War II, Miles Hammond is invited to the first meeting of the Murder Club in five years. When he arrives, no one else is there except Barbara Morell and Professor Rigaud. When no one else shows up, Rigaud tells the story of Fay Seton. Seton was a young woman working for the Brooke family. She fell in love with Harry Brooke and the two became engaged, but Harry's father, Howard, did not approve. One day, he agreed to meet Fay in a tower—all that remained of a burned-out chateau. It was a secure location on a lonely waterfront, and was the perfect place for such a meeting. Harry and Professor Rigaud left Howard alone at ten minutes before four. When they returned, fifteen minutes later, Howard had been stabbed, and the sword-cane that did it was found in two pieces beside his body. At first it seemed an open-and-shut case, but a family that was picnicking a few feet from the entrance of the tower swore that no one entered the tower in those fifteen minutes, that no boat came near the tower, and no one could have climbed up, because the nearest window was fifteen feet off the ground. The only one with any motive was Fay Seton, who was believed to be able to bring a vampire to life and terrorize people. Miles quickly becomes involved in the affair because the new librarian he just hired is Fay Seton. 

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Narrated by the vampire Lestat de Lioncourt, Blood Canticle finds young Mayfair witch and heiress Mona slowly dying, afflicted with a mysterious disease brought on by the birth of her daughter Morrigan. Over time, Mona and her guardian, Rowan Mayfair, reveal more and more about the powerful genetic plague that has haunted the Mayfairs for generations: their connection to the Taltos, an advanced species of human to which both women have given birth. Mona and the young vampire Tarquin "Quinn" Blackwood are in love. Lestat turns a dying Mona into a vampire so that the lovers can be together forever. While trying to prevent Mona's family from discovering her transformation, Lestat falls in love with the married Rowan, and she secretly pines for him as well. As Mona adjusts to her new power, Lestat enlists the ancient vampire Maharet to help find Mona's Taltos child. Lestat, Quinn and Mona arrive at the remote island colony of the Taltos, but instead of finding a secluded utopia, they discover that years of criminal intrigue and civil war have taken their toll. The remaining Taltos join the Mayfair clan at the Mayfair Medical Center where they intend to safely learn and grow as a family. Mona and Quinn are instructed in the proper ways of vampirism by Maharet and her twin Mekare. Rowan seeks out Lestat, half in love with him but torn by her love for her husband Michael. Exhausted by her life, she requests that he make her a vampire. Lestat declines, pained though he is, because she is a guiding force for the Mayfair family and he cannot take her away from it. 

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Underneath Raccoon City exists a genetic research facility called the Hive, owned by the Umbrella Corporation. A thief steals the genetically engineered T-virus and contaminates the Hive with it. In response, the facility's artificial intelligence, the Red Queen, seals the Hive and kills everyone inside. Alice awakens in the bathroom of a deserted mansion with temporary amnesia. She dresses, checks the mansion, and is tackled by an unknown person as a group of commandos led by James Shade breaks in. Alice's attacker is cuffed and then released when he claims to be Matt Addison, who just transferred as a cop in Raccoon P.D. Alice and Matt are ordered to go down to the Hive with the group, where they find another amnesiac, Spence, hidden in their train. The commandos explain that everyone in the group except Matt is an employee of the Umbrella Corporation, and Alice and her partner Spence were assigned to guard the Hive's secret entrance under the mansion. At the Red Queen's chamber, a laser defense system kills Shade and three more commandos. Despite the Red Queen's urgent pleas for the group to leave, Kaplan disables it, causing the power to fail and all of the doors in the Hive to open. This releases the zombified staff and containment units containing Lickers, creatures created through experimentation with the T-virus. When everyone regroups, they are ambushed by a horde of zombies, and a gunfight ensues. J.D. perishes as the group is overwhelmed. A bitten Rain retreats with Kaplan and Spence; Matt becomes separated from Alice, who starts regaining her memories. Matt looks for information about his sister, Lisa, and finds her zombified. Alice saves him, and Matt explains he and Lisa were environmental activists, and Lisa infiltrated Umbrella to smuggle out the evidence of illegal experiments. Alice remembers she was Lisa's contact in the Hive but does not tell Matt. The survivors reunite at the Red Queen's chamber, where the commandos explain they have one hour before the Hive traps them inside automatically. Alice and Kaplan activate the Red Queen to find an exit. To force her cooperation, they rig a remote shutdown. As they escape through maintenance tunnels, zombies ambush them, and a reanimated J.D. bites Rain before she then shoots him dead. They all reach safety except Kaplan, who is bitten and separated from the group. Alice remembers that an anti-virus is in the lab, but they find it missing. Spence remembers he was the thief who stole and purposefully released the T-virus, and hid the T-virus and anti-virus on the train. He turns against the others but is bitten by a zombie, which he kills before trapping the survivors in the lab. Spence retrieves the anti- virus but is then killed by a Licker purposely set upon him by the Red Queen. The Red Queen offers to spare Alice and Matt if they kill Rain, whose health is fading and who has been infected too long for the anti-virus to work reliably. As the Licker attempts to reach them, a power outage occurs. The lab door opens to reveal that a still-alive Kaplan shut down the Red Queen to open the door. The group heads to the train, where Alice retrieves the anti-virus and kills a reanimated Spence before escaping with the others. On the train, they inject Rain and Kaplan with the anti-virus. However, the Licker is hiding on the train and attacks them, clawing Matt and killing Kaplan. Alice subdues the Licker before Matt is attacked by a zombified Rain. He shoots Rain dead, and her head hits a button, opening a door and dropping the Licker under the train, which kills it. At the mansion, Matt's wound begins mutating. Before Alice can give him the anti-virus, the mansion doors burst open, and a group of Umbrella scientists seizes them. They subdue Alice and take Matt away, revealing he is to be put into the Nemesis Program, and that the Hive is to be re-opened for an investigation into the incident. Sometime later, Alice awakens at the Raccoon City Hospital strapped to an examination table. After escaping, she goes outside to find Raccoon City deserted and in ruins. The film ends with Alice grabbing a shotgun from an abandoned police car and walking through the streets. 

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Jeeves types a report of Bertie's latest misadventures for the club book of the Junior Ganymede Club, in which the club's members are required to record information about their employers, to inform those seeking employment about potential employers. Bertie worries that his embarrassing information will fall into the hands of his judgmental Aunt Agatha and asks Jeeves to destroy the pages about him, but Jeeves asserts that the book is secure and refuses to defy the rules of his club. An old school friend of Bertie's, Ginger Winship, is standing for the House of Commons in a by-election at Market Snodsbury, near the home of Bertie's Aunt Dahlia, Brinkley Court, on the wishes of his strict fiancée. Aunt Dahlia persuades Bertie to come to Brinkley to assist in the canvassing. Before departing, Bertie has drinks with Jeeves at the Junior Ganymede. They discuss how Ginger's chances for election will be hurt if the public learns about his rowdy past (mild by Bertie's standards but potentially offensive to the traditional rural populace of Market Snodsbury). At the club, they see an uncouth ex-valet that Bertie once employed, Bingley, who greets Jeeves in an overly familiar fashion, calling him "Reggie".Wodehouse (2008) [1971], chapter 4, p. 38. At Brinkley, he discovers Ginger's fiancée is the overbearing Florence Craye, who has previously been betrothed to several people, including Bertie. Florence mistakenly believes that Bertie still wants to marry her, and Bertie's personal code prevents him from telling her otherwise. The intimidating Roderick Spode, 8th Earl of Sidcup has come to deliver speeches for Ginger, and he has brought his fiancée, Madeline Bassett. Like Florence, Madeline thinks Bertie wants to marry her and Bertie is too polite to correct her. Also present is L. P. Runkle, a financier and collector, who is visiting Brinkley to sell a silver porringer worth nine thousand pounds to Bertie's uncle Tom Travers (who has fled Brinkley Court to avoid the guests). Runkle was the employer of the late father of Bertie's friend Tuppy Glossop, and profited from Tuppy's father's invention, leaving little for Tuppy and his father. Dahlia wants to soften up Runkle and get him to pay Tuppy his due so Tuppy can finally marry his fiancée, Angela, Aunt Dahlia's daughter. Ginger's chances for election (and thus his engagement to Florence) are threatened by Bingley, who has purloined the Junior Ganymede club book. Bingley intends to sell its pages about Ginger to his opponent or to the local newspaper. To prevent this, Jeeves pays Bingley a social visit, taking the opportunity to slip him a Mickey Finn and recover the book. Surprisingly, this does not please Ginger. After disappointing Florence in his performance at the Council meeting, he no longer wants to marry her, and has fallen in love with his secretary, Magnolia Glendennon. Like Bertie, Ginger is prevented by his personal code from telling a woman he does not want to marry her. To spur Florence to break the engagement, Ginger wants the local newspaper to print the club book's pages about him, but Jeeves is unwilling to part with the book. Meanwhile, Spode is entranced by the reception he is getting at his speeches for Ginger, and thinks of renouncing his title and running for the Commons himself. This upsets Madeline, who wants to become a Countess. Madeline considers marrying Bertie instead of Spode. Aunt Dahlia, failing to convince Runkle to give Tuppy any money, has stolen the silver porringer he wished to sell to Tom. Bertie tries to return the porringer, but is caught, and hides the object in his bureau drawer. At the candidate debate, Ginger, following Jeeves's advice, endorses his opponent and resigns the race. Havoc ensues between the opposing sides, and those present, including Spode and Florence, are pelted with produce. Florence breaks her engagement with Ginger, and he promptly elopes with Magnolia. Bingley (in Runkle's employ) discovers the missing porringer in Bertie's drawer, and Runkle accuses Bertie of the theft. While Bertie faces jail time, this has the positive effect of keeping Florence from trying to marry Bertie. Spode realises he would prefer to stay in the produce-free House of Lords and chooses to keep his title. He and Madeline reconcile. Finally, Jeeves reveals secrets about Runkle written about him by Bingley in the club book, preventing him from pressing charges against Bertie, and also forcing him to give Tuppy his legacy. Noting that Bingley was able to steal the club book, Bertie again asks Jeeves to destroy the eighteen pages that Jeeves wrote about Bertie. Jeeves states that he has already done so. 

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Paul and Jessie Duncan (Greg Kinnear and Rebecca Romijn) are a happily married couple who have an eight-year-old son named Adam (Cameron Bright). The day after his eighth birthday, when fetching a basketball into the street, Adam is killed in a collision. While leaving a church, Jessie and Paul are confronted by Dr. Richard Wells (Robert De Niro), an old professor of Jessie's. He offers to clone Adam, an illegal procedure which would require a change of location and identity, to which the Duncans reluctantly agree. Everything appears to be fine with the new Adam until he reaches his eighth birthday. That night, he experiences a violent nightmare. Richard explains to Paul that it is typical for boys his age to have night terrors, and that it is not serious. He explains that because Adam II has reached the age at which the original Adam died, his life cannot be predicted anymore. From that moment on, Adam II continues to have night terrors until they become visions and he starts having them when he's wide awake, losing control of his actions. Adam's visions are recurrent: he witnesses a boy named Zachary (Devon Bostick) walking around in a school building while being laughed at by other children. These images alternate with images of the school burning, and children screaming, and the image of an unidentified woman being attacked and killed with a hammer. Adam's visions affect his daytime personality, making him bitter, delinquent, and uncooperative. Adam begins to bully another boy that goes to his school. One night at dinner, Jessie receives a telephone call from the parent of that child, distressed that her child is missing. Jessie tells Paul, who then asks what Adam was doing that day. Adam says that he was at the river playing. When Paul asks who he was playing with, Adam responds that he's "not supposed to say". The next day, as the Duncans are driving on their way home over a bridge, they are slowed by a police officer. They walk to the side of the bridge to see the woman who had telephoned about her missing child the previous night, screaming at the sight of her son being retrieved by paramedics from a river where he had drowned. Paul believes Adam was involved with the child's death. With the help of Richard, Paul examines Adam and talks to him about his visions. He finally finds out that the school in Adam's visions is called Saint Pius and that Zachary's last name is Clark. With this information, Paul is able to track down the child's address and find a former nanny of Zachary. The nanny informs Paul that Zachary was deeply disturbed. He was bullied at school tremendously, and in the wake of his emotions, set fire to the school. When he returned home Zachary killed his mother with a hammer before setting fire to their house, where he burned along with his mother’s body. When he asks the nanny, Paul learns that Zachary's father was a geneticist--enough information to uncover that this man was none other than Richard Wells himself, living now under a false identity. Through the operation to clone Adam, Richard had secretly mixed Adam's DNA with that of Zachary (as the fire damaged Zachary's DNA to where it could not be cloned without the assistance of other living cells) with the hope of bringing his own son back to life, and then kidnapping him. The operation did not yield a complete success. After arguing with Richard and learning what has caused Adam's erratic behavior, Paul races home. He finds Adam and Jessie in the shed in the woods. He has arrived just in the nick of time to stop Adam (with Zachary's personality in control) from killing Jessie with a hammer, in nearly the same way as Zachary had killed his mother. Adam's personality manages to regain control, and everything seems to be okay. In an attempt to shake the psychological transitions from Adam to Zachary, the Duncans escape from Richard and move to a different neighborhood. All seems well. Adam is friendly and happy, but as he is left alone in his room, Adam hears a noise in the closet. When he opens the closet door, a slightly burnt and decayed arm wearing Zachary’s jersey, reaches out from the darkness of the closet and pulls Adam in. Paul comes back to check Adam and looks in the closet, but he doesn't see anyone. Adam then appears from behind and shocks Paul by touching him, indicating that Zachary has regained control. 

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The infamous stand-up comic Roy Chubby Brown stars in this irreverent, science fiction spoof. Performing one night at the end of Blackpool Pier, Chubby is beamed up to a spaceship populated by feminist aliens. Put on trial for crimes against women and quickly found guilty, the unapologetic misogynist is condemned to become pregnant every year for the next thirty years. 

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Tommy Johnson (Danny Dyer) is a member of a violent Chelsea hooligan firm and an eager ornithologist. His friends and fellow hooligans include Tommy's best friend Rod King (Neil Maskell), the hot-tempered Billy Bright (Frank Harper), and impulsive younger members Zeberdee (Roland Manookian) and Raf (Calum MacNab). Tommy spends his days drinking, using drugs, womanising and fighting, much to the disappointment of his grandfather Bill Farrell (Dudley Sutton), a pensioner and veteran who plans to move to Australia with his best friend Albert (John Junkin). Tommy has an epiphany about his lifestyle during a fight with the Tottenham hooligan firm. Tommy, Billy and Rod are arrested for assaulting two Stoke City fans whilst travelling to an away match. These actions draw the fury of Harris (Tony Denham), the leader of the Chelsea firm, whose attempts to keep order are thwarted by Billy's aggressive outbursts. Rod begins a relationship with Tamara (Sophie Linfield), the court clerk at their arraignment, and she pressures him to skip his weekend meets. Zeberdee and his friend Raff accidentally burgle Billy's house and are forced to stand in his living room, whilst Billy's children throw darts at them. Billy deals with his increasing loneliness after he overhears Harris discussing his irrelevance. Bill's plan to retire to Australia are postponed when Albert dies the night before they are to leave. Early in the film, Tommy is caught and held hostage by the brother of Shian (Michele Hallak), a girl he picked up at a club. He is saved when Rod hits the man on the head with a cricket bat. Sian's brother turns out to also be the brother of the rival Millwall firm's leader, Fred (Tamer Hassan), who then hunts Tommy down throughout the entire film. The film culminates in a pitched battle between the Chelsea and Millwall firms. Rod (after a few espressos and a line of cocaine), leaves a dinner with Tamara's parents after offending them, and attends the "meet". Tommy is severely beaten by Fred and a group of Millwall hooligans, and ends up in the hospital with Bill, who, in the meantime, has suffered a heart attack. A recurring sub-plot concerns a racist taxi driver (Jamie Foreman), whom the characters encounter at various points throughout the film. At the end of the film, Tommy decides that his place is at the firm with his friends, Bill moves to Australia and Billy Bright is incarcerated for seven years after being arrested at the Millwall meet (whilst saving Harris from being arrested). Zeberdee is killed by a drug dealer whom he had previously mugged, fulfilling a recurring nightmare that tormented Tommy throughout the film. 

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The violent rivalry between the Chelsea firm (commonly known outside the works as the "Headhunters") and the Millwall firm ("Bushwhackers") plays a central role in both works. However, in the film Millwall's firm is made up largely of people of Turkish descent, whereas in the novel the firm is portrayed as primarily working-class White Britons (and indeed the narrators complain about Millwall's ties to neo- Nazism). 

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The delivery boy from the first book, who is now the Avatar, must stop an epic clash of civilizations between the Western world, led by Christian extremist General Horatio Cruz, and the Middle East, led by Muslim extremist Al-Zee. To accomplish this task, the Avatar decides to find the "Prime Influencer", a person who, he feels, can indirectly influence all the decisions people make by virtue of responsibility, from fashion to the election of the President. He attempts to do so by enlisting a talented and arrogant programmer at Global Information Corporation (G.I.C.) (an all-encompassing, world-wide future sort of T.I.A. created out of fear of terrorism) to analyze G.I.C.'s massive databases. Also, people's phones are, in the name of preventing terrorist communications, restricted to only calling certain contacts a person has that have been approved by the Department of Communications; this fact ultimately comes back in the book's climax. The Avatar applies his unparalleled ability to identify developing patterns and accurately determine the most probable results of a situation to accurately predict the war plans of both Cruz and Al-Zee. He subsequently uses his ability to recognize even the vaguest patterns (which makes him seem to know more than he actually does) to bypass guards, escape interrogations, and ultimately win an audience with the warring leaders. Ultimately, the Avatar fails to stop the coming of the war. However, at the conclusion of the book, the Prime Influencer, who turns out to be an opinionated café owner whom the Avatar had met previously by chance, launches a simple, yet catchy, phrase (If God is so smart, why do you fart?) that spreads throughout the world like a virus thanks to an advanced computer worm, named Giver-of-Data (G.o.D.), launched by the G.I.C. programmer shortly before his death, which unlocked everyone's phones, linked them to automatic translation systems, and disabled call-billing. According to the story, "Once you heard it, you could never forget it." It was this phrase that finally captured the collective imaginations of ordinary people, causing them to reevaluate the basis of their notions of a god. This ultimately led to the elimination of fundamentalist religious practices throughout the world, which, in turn, resulted in the end of the Religion War. 

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Note: The summary of the English editions of the novel is divided into two sections, one for each book. 

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The story revolves around the last pope, John XXIX, who was overthrown more than twenty years earlier with the establishment of a new world government under General Megrim. The pope is now a frail old man, who lives in obscurity under a moderate form of house arrest, ignored by his neighbors and forbidden to keep any religious items. All he has left is a book, possibly a Bible, that he has managed to hide, and a crucifix with an arm broken off. He is already feeble-minded and has forgotten most of his past, and the world has forgotten him as well—when the concierge at a hotel is told that he is the pope, he answers, "The Pope? What's the Pope?" When the Pope was toppled, there was an attempt to assassinate him, but this failed, and it was since decided not to make him a martyr to the few surviving Christians. Since then, Christianity has been eradicated, and the pope is now the last surviving Christian. In the story, the Pope is flown for a formal meeting with the General, the new leader of the new world order. After many long years, it is a formal meeting, much publicized in the world press. The pope's robes and even his papal ring are restored to him from the World Museum of Myths, and he is forced to don them for the occasion, faintly remembering earlier days when they were his normal attire. At 11:30 am sharp, he is taken to meet the general, who reminds him that he is "The last Pope, but still a Pope," and therefore still a threat. The general places a gun on the table and offers him an opportunity to die with dignity, "The last Christian. This is a moment of history." After many long years of isolation, this is a relief to the Pope. The two men share a glass of wine before the execution is to take place. His last words, before he is shot, are Corpus domini nostri ... Greene ends the story by reflecting on the General's concern that Christianity may be abandoned and its last believers persecuted, but that somehow the faith will survive. Even after performing the execution himself, the General is plagued by the doubt, "...is it possible that what this man believed may be true?" Even religion's greatest enemies, Greene is saying, still live with the question of what if they are wrong, and as long as the slightest doubt remains, Christianity will survive. Even though he is frustrated by the modern world's skepticism, he believes that that very skepticism may yet be what keeps Christianity alive. 

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The narrative of Buso Renkin follows Kazuki Muto, who saves Tokiko Tsumura and is killed by an alchemical monster known as a homunculus. Tokiko, an alchemist warrior, feels responsible and revives him by replacing his destroyed heart with a . The kakugane is an alchemical device which, when activated, takes a weapon form based on its user's personality, forming a buso renkinthe only thing that can destroy a homunculus. Kazuki creates his own buso renkin and joins Tokiko in the fight against the homunculi and their master, Koushaku Chouno. Chouno, who has renamed himself "Papillon", is killed by Kazuki, but is later resurrected by the L.X.E., a humanoid homunculi group led by Chouno's great-great-grandfather Bakushaku Chouno, now calling himself Dr. Butterfly. In various battles, Kazuki, Tokiko and Captain Bravo (their team leader) destroy most of the L.X.E.'s members. After learning that Dr. Butterfly believes him to be weak and useless, Papillon rebels against the L.X.E. and kills Dr. Butterfly. Before his death, Dr. Butterfly drains the energy of the students at Kazuki's school to heal and revive Victor, a being superior to humans and homunculi. Victor is confronted by Kazuki, but Victor is not interested in fighting and leaves. During the battle, however, Kazuki's kakugane is revealed to be the same type as the Victor's—a black kakugane created by the Alchemist Army as a prototype to the philosopher's stone. The black kakugane absorbs human life forces; to prevent this from happening, Kazuki's death is ordered by the Alchemist Army. Captain Bravo tries to kill Kazuki, but Tokiko finds him alive. A team is commissioned to confirm Kazuki's death, but Kazuki, Tokiko and Gouta Nakamura (an Alchemist Warrior and former protégé of Tokiko's) fight their way past the members of the Re-Extermination Squad. Later, Kazuki's death is postponed because, as the Alchemists' leader explains, their top priority is to defeat Victor. Kazuki and Tokiko find the white kakugane, which can negate the effects of the black kakugane and is guarded by Victor's daughter Victoria, who is herself a humanoid homunculus. During the Alchemist Army's final battle against Victor, Kazuki applies the white kakugane to Victor, but it only weakens him. To protect humankind from both of them, Kazuki propels himself and Victor to the moon. Later, Papillion creates a white kakugane to heal Kazuki. The Alchemist Army rescues Kazuki, creates another white kakugane and restores Victor's humanity. Reunited with his daughter, Victor asks the Alchemist Army to turn him into a homunculus and tells them that he and his daughter will lead all the homunculi to the moon. The Alchemist Army dedicates itself to research a way to revert homunculi back into humans, ending their war activities. All Warriors abdicate their kakugane. Kazuki and Tokiko return to their daily lives together while Papillon becomes an urban legend throughout Japan. 

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In the spirit of Edwin Abbott Abbott's Flatland, Dewdney and his computer science students simulate a two- dimensional world with a complex ecosystem. To their surprise, they find their artificial 2D universe has somehow accidentally become a means of communication with an actual 2D world – Arde. They make a sort of "telepathic" contact with "YNDRD," referred to by the students as Yendred, a highly philosophical Ardean, as he begins a journey across the western half, Punizla, of the single continent Ajem Kollosh to learn more about the spiritual beliefs of the people of the East, Vanizla. Yendred mistakes Dewdney's class for 'spirits' and takes great interest in communicating with them. The students and narrator communicate with Yendred by typing on the keyboard; Yendred's answers appear on the computer's printout. The name Yendred (or "Yendwed", as pronounced by one of the students, who has a speech impediment) is simply "Dewdney" reversed. Written as a travelogue, Yendred's journey through the West takes him through several cities. He visits the Punizlan Institute for Technology and Science, where Arde's technology is explored in great detail. For example, all houses are underground, so as not to be demolished by the periodic 2D rivers; nails are useless for attaching two objects, so tape and glue are used instead; most Ardean creatures cannot have deuterostomic digestive tracts since they would split into two; even games such as Go have one-dimensional Alak analogues. An appendix explains various other aspects of two-dimensional science and technology which could not fit into the main story. The underlying allegory culminates in Yendred's arrival at the watershed of the continent and the planet's only building above ground, where he at last finds Drabk, an Ardean who professes 'knowledge of the Beyond,' and teaches Yendred to fly. Yendred finds that to keep contact with Earth is no longer of benefit, and contact with Arde is lost. 

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The film is set in southwest France in 1962. François (Gaël Morel), a shy young man from the lower middle class, is working towards his high school diploma. He spends most of his time talking about movies and literature with his best friend, Maïté (Élodie Bouchez), whose mother Mme Alvarez (Michèle Moretti) is François's French teacher. Mme Alvarez and Maïté are communists. At the boarding school, François becomes acquainted with Serge (Stéphane Rideau), the sensual son of immigrant farmers. At night, he joins François in the dormitory to chat. Finally, Serge draws François into an erotic relationship. François discovers his homosexuality and develops a deep attraction for Serge, who had only acted out of curiosity. François confides this discovery to Maïté, who swallows her disappointment and encourages him to come out of the closet. When Serge becomes increasingly interested in Maïté, she declares herself to be interested in nobody. Serge's brother Pierre dies while serving in the army in Algeria, and Maïté's mother suffers a nervous breakdown, having previously refused to help Pierre desert. An Algerian-born French exile, Henri (Frédéric Gorny), enrolls in the boys' boarding school and aggravates their conflicts, adding a political conflict. He is obsessed with events in Algeria and supports the OAS, which opposes Algerian independence and defends the rights of French settlers there. He treats François without sympathy and bluntly tells him to own up to his homosexuality. His political stance provokes Serge's hatred. Henri finally engages Maïté, his political opposite, and they yield to their mutual attraction. Each member of the quartet develops in the course of the film, shifting repeatedly from stubborn positions to more flexible appreciations of their circumstances, explained in French class by a reading of "The Oak and the Reed", one of Aesop's Fables. 

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Harris K. Telemacher (Steve Martin) is a TV weather presenter living in Los Angeles. He is in a dead-end relationship with his social-climbing girlfriend Trudi (Marilu Henner), and feels his job requires him to be undignified and unintellectual, though he has a PhD in Arts and Humanities. He wants to find some meaning and magic in his life, having grown increasingly weary of what he sees as the rather shallow and superficial city of LA, from overly pretentious coffee orders to bizarre shooting etiquette rules on the freeway. He spends his time roller-skating through art galleries with his friend Ariel, offering eccentric art reviews to acquaintances, remixing Shakespeare a lot, and otherwise seeking to escape his ordinary life. At a luncheon with a group of friends, he meets Sara (Victoria Tennant), a journalist from London, with whom he immediately becomes infatuated. Driving home that night, his car breaks down on the freeway. He notices that a freeway traffic condition sign seems to be displaying messages intended solely for him. It offers him cryptic advice on his love life throughout the movie. He begins to fall for Sara, but she is conflicted because she has pledged to reconcile with her ex-husband, Roland (Richard E. Grant). Feeling that a relationship with Sara is unlikely, Harris begins dating SanDeE* (Sarah Jessica Parker), a ditzy aspiring spokesmodel, whom he meets at a clothing store. After his first date with her, Harris discovers that Trudi has been cheating on him for three years with his agent. The discovery leads him to pursue his romantic interest in Sara. This is complicated by his new relationship with SanDeE* and by Sara's feeling of obligation to Roland. By the conclusion, he has successfully wooed Sara – with some encouragement and advice from the sign, some helpful weather, and plenty of cameos from Patrick Stewart, Chevy Chase, Iman, Rick Moranis, Terry Jones, and many others, with musical encouragement from Enya. 

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Elizabeth believes she has gone into labor, but at the hospital, the doctor tells her she was having Braxton Hicks contractions. The reality is that in the world from which babies come, Milo is too scared to leave the comfortable place where he has lived. Since babies must be born in order, no other babies will be born until Milo changes his mind. The people in charge give the job of educating Milo to Elmore, who is in a kind of limbo until he proves he is worthy of Heaven. Elmore and Milo go out the door which normally serves only as an entrance. Outside is the energetic and terrifying New York City. Elmore loves it, but Milo doesn't want to be in this scary place. The big news story is the lack of births anywhere. Elmore eventually takes Milo to Atlantic City, where he loved to gamble when he was alive. Elizabeth also ends up in Atlantic City. Milo's mind has not been changed and there is a deadline: at midnight, the door that the souls go through to be born will close, and no more babies will ever be born. In Atlantic City, Elizabeth meets Milo, who realizes Elizabeth is his mother, and decides he wants to be born. He also realizes Elmore is the father who abandoned Elizabeth. 

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Following a standard style of the era, the film is a romantic slapstick comedy short. Fields and his rival (played by Bud Ross) vie over the affections of a woman (played by Marian West). When their antics get out of hand at a picnic, it is decided that they should play a game of pool. Both of them are pool sharks, and after the game turns into a farce, a fight ensues. Fields throws a ball at his rival, who ducks. The ball flies through the window and breaks a hanging goldfish bowl, soaking the woman they are fighting over and leaving goldfish in her hair. She storms into the pool hall and rejects both men. 

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It is 25 September 1944, during the last days of the Warsaw Uprising. Lieutenant Zadra leads a unit of 43 soldiers and civilians to a new position amidst the ruins of the now isolated southern Mokotów district of Warsaw. The composer Michał manages to telephone his wife and child in another part of the city that is being overrun by the Germans. After a few words, she tells him that the Germans are clearing the building and that they are coming for her. Then the line goes dead. The next morning, 23-year-old Officer Cadet Korab apologizes after walking into a room to find the second in command, Lieutenant Mądry, and messenger girl Halinka in bed together (Halinka later reveals that Mądry is her first lover). A German attack is stopped, but Korab is wounded while disabling a Goliath tracked mine. Surrounded by the enemy, Zadra is ordered to retreat through the sewers to the city centre. Now down to 27 fit to travel, including Korab, they slog through the filth. Daisy, their guide, asks Zadra to let her help Korab, claiming that the others can find their way easily enough. Zadra consents. However, the pair fall further and further behind. When they reach the designated exit at Wilcza Street, Korab is too weak to climb the upward sloping tunnel, so they rest for a while. He notices some graffiti on the opposite wall, but cannot quite make it out. Daisy tells him it says "I love Janek", when the name is actually Jacek, Korab's first name. She decides that they should head in the direction of the river, which is only a short distance away and drives him on, not letting him stop. Finally, they see sunlight. By this time, Korab is half blind and at the end of his strength. He cannot see that the exit is closed off by metal bars.This scene is referenced toward the end of Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets (film) (2002). Daisy finally reveals her feelings for him, kissing him before telling him that he can rest for a while. The main group follows Zadra for a while, but they become lost without Daisy. Finally, when Zadra tells Sergeant Kula to order them onward after a brief rest, they remain where they are. Kula lies and tells Zadra they are following in order to get him to keep going. Eventually, the only remaining soldier following Zadra and Kula is the mechanic Smukły. Meanwhile, Mądry, Halinka and Michał are also lost. Eventually, Michał loses his mind and wanders away, playing an ocarina. Upon reaching a dead end, Mądry cries out that he has somebody to live for. When Halinka asks who, he tells her that he has a wife and child. She asks him to turn off his flashlight, and then shoots herself. Mądry finds an exit, but as soon as he has climbed out of the sewer he is disarmed by a German soldier. He looks around the courtyard he has emerged into and sees others who have come though the same manhole standing in silence guarded by armed German soldiers. Some are lined up against a nearby wall that is stained with blood. Despondent, he kneels beside the bodies of others who have already been executed (this scene is based on an event that really happened during the escape from Mokotów on 26/27 September 1944 - a large group of insurgents climbed out of the sewers at Dworkowa Street, in German-held territory, and 120 of them were executed by the Germans). Zadra, Kula and Smukły miss the exit at Wilcza Street but find another - however it is booby trapped. Smukły disarms two German grenades, but is killed by the third and last. Zadra and Kula emerge from the sewer to find themselves in a deserted part of the ruined city. When Zadra tells Kula to bring up the rest of the men, Kula admits he lied and that they left them behind a long time ago. Enraged, Zadra shoots Kula and reluctantly heads back down into the sewer to search for his men. 

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Twelve years after graduating from high school, three friends, Jerry, Dan, and Tom, find out that their childhood friend Billy has died in a parasailing accident. After the funeral, they revisit the group's old tree-house and find a map leading to D. B. Cooper's lost treasure, which Billy had apparently been working on for his entire life. Dan takes a break from his job as a doctor and joins Jerry and Tom on a camping trip to find the treasure. They take a canoe down the river and eventually stop on the riverside for the night. They discover that they forgot to bring food, so Tom goes out to catch some fish. However, the activity attracts a grizzly bear to their position, and the bear chases the group into a tree. In the morning, the group find all of their gear has been ripped up and completely destroyed by the bear. The trio takes off into the river but are unable to read the map, causing them to go the wrong way. They fall off of a waterfall, and while they survive, their canoe is destroyed. They venture into the woods with a compass and find themselves at a pot farm where two farmers, Dennis and Elwood, mistake them for thieves and start shooting at them. They escape, burning the pot garden down in the process. This enrages the farmers, who decide to hunt them down and kill them. Later, far into the forest the trio meets two hippie girls, Flower and Butterfly, who treat them in their tree. Using a radio the farmers find them, but the hippie girls drop paper bags full of feces at the farmers to distract them while the trio escapes. They are saved from the thunderstorm by a mountain man who takes them to his hut and provides them with clothes. The mountain man later reveals himself to be Del Knox, Cooper's partner before his death. The next morning, the farmers find them and assault the house. The trio escapes while Del shoots at the two farmers with his dual wield revolvers. The trio stumbles upon the site of Cooper's crash-landing where they discover Cooper's corpse and the suitcase that he used to hold the ransom money, and they realize that Cooper burned his share of the money in an attempt to survive. As Dan crawls through a small tunnel to find a way out, the farmers find Tom and Jerry, and a fistfight ensues. Eventually, Sheriff Briggs, who had earlier helped the trio, intervenes. He then reveals himself to be the farmers' employer. Jerry arms a grenade taken from Dennis and throws it towards the pot dealers. It explodes, causing a tree to fall on the farmers and the sheriff, who are soon arrested. In the closing scenes, Del gives Tom, Jerry and Dan the remains of D.B's non burnt money (turns out to be $100,000) but Jerry and Dan decide Tom needs it more than them so they let Tom keep the fortune, while Del gives D.B.'s remains a proper funeral. Jerry proposes to his girlfriend Denise, Dan starts a relationship with Flower, and Tom becomes a camp counselor for a children's summer camp where he ends up telling his troop an exaggerated version of the trip. 

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On his eighty-first birthday, retired homosexual writer Kenneth Toomey is asked by the Archbishop of Malta to assist in the process of canonisation of Carlo Campanati, the late Pope Gregory XVII and his brother-in-law. Toomey subsequently works on his memoirs, which span the major part of the 20th century. 

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At a young age, Jackie Kallen learns about boxing with her father and uncle in a small gym. Later, she becomes assistant to a Cleveland boxing promoter. Her boss then begins doing business with Sam LaRocca, a sports manager, during a middleweight championship fight. Challenged after the contest to demonstrate an understanding of the fight game, she proceeds to embarrass LaRocca, who then offers to sell the loser's contract to her for the price of one dollar. She accepts, only to discover upon visiting the fighter in his home that he is addicted to drugs and enmeshed in a dangerous and self-destructive lifestyle. Enter Luther Shaw, a small-time hood. Kallen watches in horror and fascination as Shaw pummels the former middleweight champ. She offers to manage him professionally. Shaw is at first hesitant, but eventually signs on with her. Because of LaRocca's influence, Kallen can't find Shaw a fight anywhere in Ohio, so the two are forced to go on the road until Shaw makes a name for himself. Jackie begins to get swept up in all the attention she gets for being the first female boxing manager. Her attention eventually shifts from Shaw to her own media persona as her fighter's number of wins continues to climb. Finally realizing that she is not paying enough attention to her only client, Kallen agrees to sell Shaw's contract to LaRocca on the condition that he be given a championship fight. LaRocca agrees, setting Shaw up for a shot at the title before he could be ready. Kallen arrives at the fight and stands in Shaw's corner as he pulls off an upset and wins the championship. 

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Michael Felgate is an English auctioneer living in New York City where he manages the Cromwell auction house. He proposes marriage to his girlfriend Gina Vitale, but is disheartened to be turned down. Gina tearfully explains that her father Frank and most of her cousins and uncles are gangsters deeply involved in a Mafia crime family, and she is concerned that Michael will be forced into their world. Michael assures her that he will not let this happen, but barely is their engagement party over before he is unwittingly involved in a money laundering scam, and soon the FBI takes an interest in him. When one of the money laundering scams at Michael's auction house goes wrong, Gina's cousin Johnny confronts and attacks Michael. Gina takes his gun and fires a warning shot into the ceiling, which ricochets and accidentally kills Johnny. Johnny's father Vito finds out, and he tells Frank he will kill Gina unless Frank kills Michael during his wedding speech. Having grown fond of Michael, Frank confesses what Vito has ordered him to do to Michael and the two of them turn to the FBI in return for protection. The FBI set up an elaborate operation in which Michael's execution will be faked at the wedding reception. Michael is given a hidden recording device and is tasked with trying to record Vito into admitting his criminal activity on tape before he is "executed". Michael's plan fails, and when Vito realises that his execution is a set-up, he orders Vinnie to kill Michael. Vinnie shoots Gina in what appears to be an accident. Vito is arrested for ordering Michael's execution. As Frank and Michael mourn Gina's apparent death in the back of her ambulance, it is revealed that her death was faked as well, and that Vinnie and Gina were also involved with the FBI as a back-up plan. 

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In Seattle, housewife Claire Bartel is happily married and pregnant with her second child. At a routine check-up, she is sexually molested by her new obstetrician, Dr. Victor Mott. Traumatized, she tells her husband Michael, who encourages her to report Dr. Mott to the state medical board. Her initial accusation prompts four more women to come forward about Dr. Mott assaulting them, and multiple charges are prepared against him by the district attorney's office. Instead of answering to the charges, Dr. Mott commits suicide to avoid being arrested. Lawyers tell Mott's pregnant widow that her husband's assets have been frozen because of the lawsuits, he voided his life insurance contract by committing suicide, and she will lose her luxurious home. Stressed, Mrs. Mott goes into pre-term labor, loses her baby, and undergoes an emergency hysterectomy. While recovering in the hospital, she sees a news story identifying Claire as the one who reported her husband, and she swears revenge. Six months later, Claire has given birth to her son, Joey. Looking for a nanny, she unknowingly hires Mrs. Mott, who is going under the alias "Peyton Flanders." Mrs. Mott wages a campaign to undermine Claire in her household. She frequently breastfeeds Joey in secret; this causes him to reject Claire, as he stops taking Claire's milk. Mrs. Mott encourages Claire's daughter Emma to keep secrets from her mother, tries to turn Emma against Claire, and secretly destroys Michael's office proposal. Knowing that Claire's close friend Marlene had been Michael's ex-girlfriend before he married Claire, Mrs. Mott also suggests to Michael that he arrange a surprise party for Claire, leading Marlene and Michael to meet in secret. Claire accuses Michael of having an affair with Marlene, only to find the party-goers waiting in the next room. Solomon, an intellectually disabled handyman who has been assisting the Bartels and is friendly with Emma, discovers Mrs. Mott breastfeeding Joey. To prevent him from exposing her, Mrs. Mott implies to Claire that she believes Solomon may be molesting Emma. Mrs. Mott then plants a pair of Emma's panties in Solomon's toolbox, leading Claire to fire him. Emma tells Claire that Solomon never did anything to her. Claire doesn't believe Emma, causing her to turn against her mother, as Mrs. Mott had planned. Unknown to the family, except for Emma, Solomon keeps a watchful eye over them. A now wary Claire begins to suspect "Peyton's" hand in all recent incidents and suggests to Michael that they should take a family vacation without "Peyton". Mrs. Mott overhears their conversation from the other room over the baby monitor, and the next morning she boobytraps the greenhouse for Claire. Marlene discovers Mrs. Mott's identity, but before she can get in touch with Claire, Mrs. Mott tricks her into going into the greenhouse, where she is killed by the falling glass ceiling when she swings the door open. Knowing that Claire suffers from asthma, Mrs. Mott empties all of Claire's inhalers and takes Joey out for a walk. When Claire arrives back home and finds Marlene's bloodied, glass-covered body, she has an asthma attack and is briefly hospitalized. As Michael is distraught over both Marlene's death and his wife's condition, Mrs. Mott attempts to seduce him, but he rejects her advances. Claire eventually uncovers the truth about Mrs. Mott, confronts her, and reveals the truth to Michael just as Mrs. Mott claims that she and Michael are having an affair. Michael denies this claim and kicks Mrs. Mott out. Claire tells Michael to call the police when she realizes that Mrs. Mott was behind Marlene's death and that she was the intended target. Michael tells Claire to get Emma and Joey so that they can head to a hotel for safety. Mrs. Mott breaks into the house and lures Michael down to the basement where she hits him with a shovel, knocking him down the stairs and breaking his legs. Mrs. Mott attempts to take Emma and Joey, but after seeing Mrs. Mott assault her mother, Emma locks Mrs. Mott in the nursery. Mrs. Mott escapes and hears Joey in the attic. She enters and sees Solomon aiding the kids' escape. When Claire enters, Mrs. Mott attempts to kill her but stops after Claire appears to be having another asthma attack, prompting Mrs. Mott to mock her. As Mrs. Mott tries to take Joey, Claire gets back up, having faked her asthma attack, and pushes Mrs. Mott out of the window, impaling her on the picket fence and killing her. Touched at how Solomon risked his life to protect her family, Claire welcomes him back into their lives. As they leave the attic, the police and paramedics arrive. 

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Eight years after the events of the first film, Miami Police Department (MPD) narcotics division detectives Marcus Burnett and Mike Lowrey are investigating a flow of ecstasy into the city, leading them to a KKK meeting and drug drop. In the firefight, several KKK members are either killed or injured and Marcus is accidentally shot in the bottom by Mike. The other cops soon arrive and capture the surviving Klan members, who are revealed not to be the distributors but only small-time buyers of the drugs. Marcus questions if he wants to remain partners with Mike. Meanwhile, Mike is concealing a relationship with Marcus' sister, Syd. Syd, not known to both Mike and Marcus, is an undercover agent of the Drug Enforcement Administration, laundering money for a Russian gangster group, who distribute ecstasy on behalf of Cuban drug lord Johnny Tapia. While transporting this money between the Russians and Tapia, Syd is attacked by Haitian ZoePounders planning to steal the money. Mike and Marcus inadvertently stumble into the action, resulting in a gunfight and car chase, devastating the local area and enraging Police Captain Conrad Howard. Marcus and Mike discover Syd's involvement, and Capt. Howard demands they find the supplier of ecstasy. Both Marcus and Mike confront the Haitian gang, plus find out from their leader after interrogating him thoroughly that a local mortuary is possibly being used by Tapia as a front for more money laundering. The pair then go to penetrate Tapia's mansion disguised as pest exterminators, and discover that Tapia has gotten rid of some of his Russian distributors and has begun to court Syd, still undercover with the DEA, for distribution. The detectives locate the boat used for drug smuggling after forcing a captured Klan member to reveal its location, observe a morgue van make a rendezvous with it, and give chase unsuccessfully. Mike and Marcus infiltrate Tapia's mortuary disguised as ambulance drivers, and learn that he is using dead bodies to smuggle drugs and money. When the pair are almost discovered, Marcus accidentally ingests some of the ecstasy and Mike orders the disguised officers outside the building to crash an ambulance into it, creating a diversion. The mortuary and Tapia's mansion are raided, the drugs and money intercepted by the U.S. Coast Guard. However, during the raid a vengeful Russian gangster, Alexei, goes to the mansion on his own, planning to get revenge for his friends that died. He soon meets the exact fate as the cops arrive and eliminate him by shooting him while Tapia discovers Syd, kidnaps her and takes her to Cuba. With Syd hostage in Tapia's compound, he demands the return of his money in exchange for Syd. Mike and Marcus, with a team of volunteer SWAT members, CIA operatives, and DEA agents, assault Tapia's compound, rescuing Syd, and destroying the building. The group flee, an infuriated Tapia in pursuit, which ends in a minefield outside of the U.S. Naval Station Guantanamo Bay, where Tapia holds Mike at gunpoint, with guards at the naval station threatening them. Syd activates one of the mines with her pistol, killing Tapia's thug. Marcus defeats Tapia by shooting his forehead, causing him to fall backwards on a few of the landmines, obliterating his body. A grateful Mike thanks and congratulates Marcus for rescuing him before kissing Syd. Later, while they lounge in the new pool back at the Burnett house, Marcus finally makes peace with Mike dating Syd. Marcus's peace is short-lived when Mike informs him that he and Syd can't be together because of Marcus and his attitude. While a playful argument ensues over transfer papers, the family dog destroys the above ground pool, washing both of them into the sea as Marcus and Mike re-affirm their partnership as they celebrate their victory by singing Bad Boys. 

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Scene: London and the neighbouring Country, except for Act IV Scene ii which is set in Moldavia. As a play called 'The London Merchant' is about to be performed, a Citizen and his Wife 'in the audience' interrupt to complain that the play will misrepresent the middle-class citizens of the city. The Citizen, who identifies himself as a grocer, climbs onto the stage, bringing his Wife up to sit with him. They demand that the players put on a play of their own choosing and suggest that the Citizen's own apprentice, Rafe,In mid-20th century revivals the name was usually rendered as "Ralph": see "A Jacobean Romp", The Times, 25 November 1920, p. 10 and "The Old Vic: 'The Knight Of The Burning Pestle'.", The Times, 5 January 1932, p. 10 should be given a part. Rafe demonstrates his dramatic skills by quoting Shakespeare, and a part is created for him as a knight errant. He refers to himself as a 'Grocer Errant' and has a burning pestle on his shield as a heraldic device. This meta-plot is intercut with the main plot of the interrupted play, 'The London Merchant', where Jasper Merrythought, the merchant's apprentice, is in love with his master's daughter, Luce, and must elope with her to save her from marriage to Humphrey, a City man of fashion. Luce pretends to Humphrey that she has made an unusual vow: she will only marry a man who has the spirit to run away with her. She knows that Humphrey will immediately inform her father. She intends to fake an elopement with Humphrey, knowing that her father will allow this to happen, but will then drop him and meet up with Jasper. Meanwhile, Jasper's mother has decided to leave her husband, Old Merrythought, who has spent all his savings in drinking and partying. When Jasper seeks his mother's help, she rejects him in favour of his younger brother Michael. She tells Michael that she has kept jewellery they can use to live on while he learns a trade. They leave Merrythought, and lose themselves in a wood where she misplaces her jewellery. Jasper arrives to meet Luce and finds the jewels. Luce and Humphrey appear. Jasper, as planned, knocks over Humphrey and escapes with Luce. The Grocer Errant arrives, believing when he sees the distraught Mrs Merrythough that he has met a damsel in distress. He takes the Merrythoughts to an inn, expecting the host to accommodate them chivalrously without charge. When the host demands payment, the Grocer Errant is perplexed. The host tells him there are people in distress he must save from an evil barber named Barbaroso (a barber surgeon who is attempting cures on people with venereal diseases). He effects a daring rescue of Barbaroso's patients. The Citizen and his Wife demand more chivalric and exotic adventures for Rafe, and a scene is created in which the Grocer Errant must go to Moldavia where he meets a princess who falls in love with him. But he says that he has already plighted his troth to Susan, a cobbler's maid in Milk Street. The princess reluctantly lets him go, lamenting that she cannot come to England, as she has always dreamed of tasting English beer. Jasper tests Luce's love by pretending he intends to kill her because of the way her father has treated him. She is shocked, but declares her devotion to him. Humphrey and her father arrive with other men. They attack Jasper and drag Luce away. The merchant locks Luce in her room. Jasper feigns death and writes a letter to the merchant with a pretend dying apology for his behaviour. The coffin, with Jasper hiding within, is carried to the merchant's house, where Luce laments his demise. Jasper rises and explains his plan to save her from marriage to Humphrey: Luce is to take Jasper's place in the coffin while Jasper remains hidden in the house. When the merchant enters, Jasper pretends to be his own ghost and scares the merchant into expelling Humphrey. A chastened Mrs Merrythought returns to her husband. Jasper reveals he is still alive. The merchant asks for Old Merrythought's forgiveness and consents to Jasper's match with Luce. The Citizen and his Wife demand that Rafe's part in the drama should also have an appropriate ending, and he is given a heroic death scene. Everyone is satisfied. 

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The novel is set in Faulkner's fictional Yoknapatawpha County, Mississippi and takes place in May/June 1929. In May 1929, Horace Benbow, a lawyer frustrated with his life and family, suddenly leaves his home in Kinston, Mississippi, and hitchhikes his way back to Jefferson, his hometown in Yoknapatawpha County. There, his widowed sister, Narcissa Sartoris, lives with her son and her late husband's great-aunt, Miss Jenny. On the way to Jefferson, he stops for a drink of water near the "Old Frenchman" homestead, which is occupied by the bootlegger Lee Goodwin. Benbow encounters a sinister man called Popeye, an associate of Goodwin, who brings him to the decrepit mansion where he meets Goodwin and the strange people who live there with him. Later that night, Benbow catches a ride from Goodwin's place into Jefferson. He argues with his sister and Miss Jenny about leaving his wife, and meets Gowan Stevens, a local bachelor who recently has been courting Narcissa. That night, Benbow moves back into his parents' house, which has been sitting vacant for years. After meeting Benbow, Stevens leaves to go to a dance in Oxford that same night. Stevens has returned to Jefferson after graduating from the University of Virginia, where he "learned to drink like a gentleman." He is from a wealthy family and prides himself on having adopted the worldview of the Virginia aristocracy. His date that night is Temple Drake, a student at the University of Mississippi ("Ole Miss"), who has a reputation of being a "fast girl." Temple also comes from a wealthy Mississippi family and is the daughter of a powerful judge. While they are out, Gowan and Temple make plans to meet the next morning to travel with her classmates to Starkville for a baseball game. But, after taking Temple home after the dance, Gowan learns from some locals where he can find moonshine and spends the night drinking heavily. He passes out in his car at the train station where he is supposed to have a rendezvous with Temple the next morning. Gowan wakes the next morning to discover that he's missed Temple's train. He speeds to the next town to intercept it, meeting Temple in Taylor, and convincing her to ride with him to Starkville—a violation of the university's rules for young women. On the way, Gowan, still drunk, and an obvious alcoholic, decides to stop at the Goodwin place to find more moonshine. He crashes his car into a tree that Popeye had felled across the drive in case of a police raid. Popeye and Tommy, a good- natured "halfwit" who works for Goodwin, happen to be nearby when the accident happens, and take Temple and Gowan back to the old mansion. Temple is terrified, both by Gowan's behavior and by the strange people and circumstances into which he has brought her. Upon arriving at the Goodwin place, she meets Goodwin's common-law wife, Ruby, who advises her to leave before nightfall. Gowan is given more liquor to drink. After nightfall, Goodwin returns home and is upset to find Gowan and Temple staying there. All the men continue to drink; Gowan and Van, a member of Goodwin's bootlegging crew, argue and provoke each other. Van makes crude advances toward Temple, rousing in the drunken Gowan a sense that he needs to protect Temple's honor. By this point, Temple is deeply distressed. She is apprehensive of the bootleggers, truant from school, and afraid of being discovered for fear of her family's disapproval. She is condescending, which angers Popeye, and tries to hold court in the room where the men are drinking despite Ruby's advice that she stay away from them. After being harassed, Temple finds a bedroom to hide. Gowan and Van finally fight, and Gowan is knocked out. The other men carry him into the room where Temple is cowering and throw him on the bed. Ruby and Tommy keep the men, including Popeye, from bothering Temple. Finally, the men leave on a whiskey run in the middle of the night. The next morning, Gowan wakes and silently leaves the house, abandoning Temple. Tommy, who dislikes and fears Goodwin's other men, hides Temple in a corn crib in the barn. But Popeye, who has obviously been devising a scheme, soon discovers them there. He murders Tommy with a gunshot to the back of the head and then proceeds to rape Temple with a corncob. Afterward, he puts her in his car and drives to Memphis, Tennessee, where he has connections in the criminal underworld. Meanwhile, Goodwin discovers Tommy's body at his barn. When the police arrive on the scene, they assume Goodwin committed the crime and arrest him. Goodwin knows of Popeye's guilt, but doesn't implicate him out of fear of retaliation. In Jefferson, Goodwin is jailed, and Benbow takes up his legal defense, even though he knows that Goodwin cannot pay him. Benbow tries to let Ruby and her sickly infant child stay with him in the house in Jefferson, but Narcissa, acting as half-owner, refuses because of the Goodwin family's reputation. In the end, Benbow has no choice but to put Ruby and her son in a room at a local hotel. Benbow tries unsuccessfully to get Goodwin to tell the court about Popeye. He soon finds out about Temple and her presence at Goodwin's place when Tommy was murdered, heads to Ole Miss to look for her. He discovers that she has left the school. On the train back to Jefferson, he runs into an unctuous state senator named Clarence Snopes, who says that the newspaper is claiming that Temple has been "sent up north" by her father. In reality, Temple is living in a room in a Memphis bawdy house owned by Miss Reba, an asthmatic, widowed madam, who thinks highly of Popeye and is happy that he's finally chosen a paramour. Popeye keeps Temple at the brothel for use as a sex slave. However, because he is impotent, he brings along Red, a young gangster, and forces him and Temple to have sex while he watches. When Benbow returns from Oxford, he learns that the owner of the hotel has kicked out Ruby and her child. After Narcissa again refuses to give them shelter, Benbow finds a place for Ruby to stay outside of town. Meanwhile, Snopes visits Miss Reba's brothel and discovers that Temple is living there. Snopes realizes that this information might be valuable to both Benbow and Temple's father. After Benbow agrees to pay Snopes for the information, Snopes divulges Temple's whereabouts in Memphis. Benbow immediately heads there and convinces Miss Reba to let him talk to Temple. Miss Reba is sympathetic to the plight of Goodwin and his family, but she still admires and respects Popeye. Temple tells Benbow the story of her rape at Popeye's hands. Benbow, shaken, returns to Jefferson. Upon his return home, he reflects on Temple and is reminded of Little Belle, his stepdaughter. He looks at a picture of Little Belle, and then becomes ill while being disturbed by images of her naked, conflated with images from what he has heard from Temple about her night at the old mansion. At this point, Temple has become corrupted thoroughly by life in the brothel. After bribing Miss Reba's servant to let her leave the house, she runs into Popeye, who is waiting outside in his car. He takes Temple to a roadhouse called The Grotto, intending to settle whether she permanently stays with Popeye or Red. At the club, Temple drinks heavily and tries to have furtive sex with Red in a back room, but he spurns her advances for the moment. Two of Popeye's friends frog-march her out of the club and drive her back to Miss Reba. Popeye kills Red, which turns Miss Reba against him. She tells some of her friends what has happened, hoping he will be captured and executed for the murder. Narcissa visits the district attorney and reveals she wants Benbow to lose the case as soon as possible, so that he will cease his involvement with the Goodwins. After writing to his wife to ask for a divorce, Benbow tries to get back in touch with Temple through Miss Reba, who tells him that both she and Popeye are gone. At around this time, Goodwin's trial begins in Jefferson. On the second day of the trial, Temple makes a surprise appearance and takes the stand, giving false testimony that it was Goodwin, not Popeye, who had raped and brutalized her. The district attorney also presents the stained corncob used in Temple's rape as evidence. The jury finds Goodwin guilty after only eight minutes of deliberation. Benbow, devastated, is taken back to Narcissa's house. After wandering from the house that evening, he finds that Goodwin has been lynched by the townsfolk with his body set ablaze. Benbow is recognized in the crowd, which speaks of lynching him, too. The next day, a defeated Benbow returns home to his wife. Ironically, on his way to Pensacola, Florida to visit his mother, Popeye is arrested and hanged for a crime he never committed. Temple and her father make a final appearance in the Jardin du Luxembourg, having found sanctuary in Paris. 

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Mario is the owner of Mario's Toy Company, a toy enterprise in which he sells a series of small wind-up figures called "Mini-Marios". After seeing a television advertisement for the Mini-Marios, Donkey Kong immediately falls in love with the toys and sets out to the store to get one for himself, only to find that the toy is sold out. Furious, Donkey Kong breaks into Mario's toy factory across the street and steals all of the Mini-Marios, prompting Mario to chase after Donkey Kong to get his toys back. Mario travels in pursuit of Donkey Kong, rescuing the Mini-Marios and battling Donkey Kong several times along the way before retrieving all of the toys. Mario, the Mini-Marios, and the Toad employees from Mario's Toy Company all make fun of Donkey Kong, who has realized that all of his stolen toys are gone, prompting him to kidnap all of the Toads and imprison them on the tower of a big building. Mario climbs to the top of the tower, rescues the Toads, and battles Donkey Kong once more, after which Donkey Kong falls onto a truck containing a shipment of new Mini- Marios. Donkey Kong then promptly steals this set of toys as Mario pursues him once again to reclaim them. Following another cat-and-mouse chase, Mario gets back all but 6 of the captured Mini-Marios, which Donkey Kong holds captive and guards with a large robot mech. Mario fights Donkey Kong one last time, destroying Donkey Kong's mech and finally getting back the rest of the toys. Mario notices that Donkey Kong is devastated and crying in shame, to which he responds by comforting him and giving him a free Mini-Mario toy. After finally getting what he has wanted all along, Donkey Kong, Mario, the toads, and the remaining Mini-Marios all rejoice together. 

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In Witchaven, the player is cast in the role of Grondoval, a hardy knight in service of his homeland Stazhia, been chosen by his master, Lord Verkapheron, for a mission to rid the world of the threat posed by the evil Illwhyrin. In her lair, known as the realm of Witchaven and hidden in a massive subterranean maze under the forbidding Isle of Char, Illwhyrin performs sinister rituals seeking to lift a dimensional barrier, known as the Veil, that separates the game's universe from the chaotic Nether Reaches. If she succeeds, she might access unlimited dark powers to draw upon and gather a vast horde of demonic minions to use as armies for conquest. Grondoval arrives at Char by boat, armed only with a dagger. He needs to fight his way through the hordes of monsters dwelling in a labyrinth of dark caves and dungeons so he can reach Illwhyrin's inner sanctum in time and put an end to her before it is too late. 

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Samurai 7 tells the story of a village named Kanna. Set in a futuristic world that has just witnessed the end of a massive war, scores of villages are terrorized by Nobuseri bandits. But the Nobuseri are no normal bandits. They were once samurai, who during the war integrated their living cells with machines to become dangerous weapons now appearing more machine than man. Absolute power corrupts, and their reign of terror is increasing its hold on the countryside. The elder of Kanna Village has decided that to protect the village they must hire samurai to fight against the bandits. However, the village has no money and thus must find samurai willing to protect the village for a payment of rice. Three members of the village leave to attempt to recruit samurai. They travel to the city and search for samurai willing to work, and after finding several samurai and having a few encounters with the local government, they return to Kanna village to prepare defenses against the bandits. The samurai train the villagers in the use of bows, building walls, and construct a giant ballista to defend the village against the bandits. After successfully defeating the bandits, the samurai then launch an attack upon the capital to defeat a power-hungry ruler who has recently risen to power as Emperor. After heavy casualties for the samurai, and the near-destruction of Kanna village, the capital is finally defeated. 

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The USS Enterprise under the command of Captain Kirk arrives at the dying planet Psi 2000. Their mission is to observe and document the planet's breakup, and to retrieve a research team stationed on the planet. Mr. Spock and Lt (junior grade) Joe Tormolen beam down and find the researchers' life support system shut down and the team frozen to death—one fully clothed in a shower, one seated at a control console as if nothing was wrong, and one who was strangled. Tormolen removes his environmental suit glove to scratch his nose and comes in contact with a strange red liquid. The landing party is beamed back to the ship and examined by Chief Medical Officer Dr. McCoy. McCoy finds no medical issues with them and allows them to return to duty. While having lunch, Tormolen begins to act irrationally, expressing hostility towards other crew members, and threatening Lieutenants Sulu and Riley with a knife before turning it on himself. His wound is not life-threatening, but in sick bay he dies after a successful surgery, to McCoy's bewilderment. Both Sulu and Riley also begin to behave irrationally. Sulu acts like a 17th- century swashbuckler in the style of The Three Musketeers, while Riley revels in his Irish ancestry, locks himself in the engineering section, and proclaims himself captain of the Enterprise. Those whose skin they have touched follow suit, and the infection quickly spreads through the crew. As they abandon their posts, the ship's orbit destabilizes and it falls into the planet's erratic gravity well. As the Enterprise enters the upper atmosphere, the hull begins to heat. Chief Engineer Scott regains control of engineering from Riley, but Riley has shut down the engines. It will be impossible to restart them by normal procedures before the Enterprise crashes into the planet. Spock becomes infected when Nurse Chapel takes his hands and confesses her love for him. Spock struggles to contain his emotions, and infects Captain James T. Kirk when he tries to help. McCoy studies blood samples from his patients and water from Psi 2000 and finds that the water from the planet possesses a previously undetected complex chain of molecules that affects humanoids like alcohol, depressing the centers of judgment and self-control, and is transmitted by touch. He develops a serum to reverse the effects, administering the initial doses to the command crew to allow them to bring the ship back under control. Kirk orders Scott to make a full-power restart of the warp engines, a dangerous process that mixes matter and antimatter in a cold state to create a controlled implosion and drive the ship away from the planet. This is suggested by a theory postulating a relationship between time and antimatter, but it has never before been attempted. The restart is successful, propelling the Enterprise at impossible speed away from the planet into a space-time warp that sends the ship back 71 hours in time. Spock comments that they now know a way to travel back through time. Kirk's response is "We may risk it someday, Mr. Spock." 

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Peter McDermott: The main character is Mr. Peter McDermott; the general manager with a past. He is a graduate in Hotel Management from Cornell University and subsequently got a job in a hotel. However, he had been involved with a lady at time when he was supposed to be on duty. This gave Peter's wife and the lady's husband a reason to ask for a divorce. McDermott's dalliance was not a big thing for the hotel, but the newspaper coverage was such that he was dismissed from his job and blacklisted. But Warren Trent, the head of the St. Gregory Hotel, ignoring the past and considering the skill, hired him. The novel is about McDermott's attempts to deal with several crises in the hotel which involve a range of other characters. The Hotel Finance Problem: The hotel's unpayable and unrenewable mortgage is due on Friday, necessitating its sale. Curtis O'Keefe, who owns a large hotel chain, plans to buy the St. Gregory hotel as the O'Keefe chain did not have a hotel in New Orleans. They had offered to pay the two million due on the mortgage and one million dollar and living accommodation to Warren Trent as well. However Warren did not want to lose the hotel which he had nurtured for so long. They decided upon a deadline of Friday afternoon to make a decision on the deal. Warren Trent meanwhile decided to make a deal with the Journeyman's Union who had long wanted to enter the hotel Industry but were not successful. This way Warren Trent could maintain the hotel's independence and still have a say in its affairs. The Journeyman's Union had decided to send two of its executives on Thursday to study the hotel books and then decide before the Friday afternoon deadline. Royall Edwards of the St. Gregory had been appointed by Warren Trent to work with the two officers all night, if required, so that they could complete the study. However, upset with the denial of entry of a Negro man to the hotel, which made headlines, the Journeyman's Union broke the deal. Warren Trent had no option but to give in to Curtis O'Keefe. To his utmost surprise, a few minutes before Friday noon, the bank manager who had turned down refinancing of the hotel, came with an offer, that an individual, whose name could not be disclosed then, would be paying the mortgage and buying the major shares of the hotel. Warren Trent would be the chairman, though Warren knew that he would be just a figurehead but as it was a better offer, so he accepted. Christine and Albert Wells: Christine is Warren Trent's secretary. Peter and Christine have a liking for each other. They share many things in common and feel they could be happy together. In the hotel, an elderly guest, Mr. Albert Wells, suffers a medical problem in his room. The hotel staff is alert and quickly moves him to another room. Christine took care of Albert Wells personally as he was the hotel guest. Marsha Preyscott: In another incident a group of teen-aged boys create a major incident that is aggravated by the fact that they are the sons of the local banker, car dealer, and other town notables. They attempt to rape Miss Prescott, the daughter of Mr. Prescott, a department store magnate, who is currently in Rome. However, on listening her screams, Aloysius Royce, (a Negro and main help to Warren Trent who treats him like a son), steps in and Marsha is able to escape. Peter handles the situation and asks for a written apology from each of the boys involved in it. In these letters, the villainous Bell Captain, Herbie Chandler is named as the one who made the incident possible. Because of his collusion in this, Chandler is threatened with firing on the spot, however, McDermott plans to take it to Mr. Trent, because of Chandler's years of employment. Chandler attempts to bribe the general manager, but fails, and is told to leave the office in a cold rage. Chandler plots some kind of revenge against McDermott, and he steps on elevator number 4. Marsha falls in ‘love’ with Peter McDermott and proposes marriage. Peter finds it difficult to say no to her considering her affluence and beauty but finally says no as he knows that he likes Christine. However he overcomes his sense of guilt when he learns from Anna (Head maid servant of Marsha) that she is always the same and will be OK in a little time and that Anna was not married. However, Marsha, in framing a good background to convince Peter, had said that Anna had a very good life with her husband whom she had met only once before marriage, and it was not necessary to know a person for too long before to decide on marriage. The Dentist Convention: The hotel business gains a minimum from room rent, the bulk of its profit coming from the food and the conventions held. A major convention of dentists was supposed to be held in the St. Gregory. Dr Ingram, the president of the convention has arrived and settled in his room. Then a Dr. Nicholas, a prominent dentist, university lecturer, and Negro, arrives at the counter, showing a confirmed reservation. However hotel policy does not allow Negroes. Dr Ingram was quite disappointed at this and threatened to take the convention out of the hotel, causing a major loss. When Peter discussed it with Warren he said, that after a few discussions this would be forgotten and the convention would be held and there was no need to worry. And after a few meetings the convention finally decided to stay though Mr. Ingram resigned from his post. Curtis O'Keefe and Dodo: Curtis O'Keefe, the man who owns a large hotel chain plans to buy the St. Gregory. He is there with Dodo, his girl friend. But Curtis wants to move on. He gets a movie role for Dodo and intends to go to New York to meet his new girlfriend. When Warren tells Curtis that he is not going to accept Curtis' offer to sell the hotel, Curtis is very disappointed and in a fit of anger he tells Dodo that he doesn't want her any more. Dodo is upset, although somehow she already knows. She has to board her flight to Los Angeles and takes elevator number 4, as she is about to move out of the hotel. Duke and Duchess of Croydon: In another instance the Duke and Duchess of Croydon are hiding out in the hotel as they are responsible for a gruesome hit-and-run accident which made the headlines. The Duke had gone to a night club and the Duchess reaches the club to find her husband. On their way back the Duke hits a woman and her daughter and both the woman and her daughter died. However, in the accident the headlight and the trim ring of the car were damaged. The Duke and Duchess arrived back at the hotel and try to find a way out, so that there not the slightest suggestion of them being involved in an accident. When the room-service waiter arrives in the presidential suite with dinner, the Duchess intentionally hits him so that her dress gets spoiled. The Duchess creates a big issue over this, just to make her presence felt so that it can be interpreted that she was in the hotel. But the chief house officer Ogilvie gets a hint of it and tries to blackmail the Duke and Duchess. They finally reach an agreement that Ogilvie would drive their Jaguar to Chicago and a total of twenty-five thousand dollars would be paid to him. By the time the police identify the car with the broken headlight and trim pieces, Ogilvie would be out of New Orleans. The travel was supposedly on Thursday night at 1 am. Ogilvie gets a written note from the Duchess asking for permission to drive her car out of garage in case the garage officer asks for it. The moment he is driving the car out of hotel, Peter enters the hotel and they make eye contact, though Peter did not think much of it at the time. However, recollecting all the events – a Jaguar being driven by Ogilvie belonging to the Duke and Duchess – the broken headlight of the Jaguar – the fuss created by Duchess about the waiter – all establish a link towards the involvement of the Duke and Duchess. Peter inquires from the garage officer and is informed that Ogilvie had a written note from the Duchess and so was allowed to drive the car away, but somehow the note got misplaced. Peter informed police captain Yolles of the incident, but they could not prove it without any evidence. After working hard, the incinerator officer, responsible for garbage recycling, manages to find the note. When the note is shown to the Duchess, she frowns. The Duke then decides to admit his crime and decides to leave and steps into elevator number 4. Keycase Milne: A hotel thief operating in the St. Gregory. He has managed to get keys of several rooms in the hotel by using tricks, asking for other room number keys from the reception desk, using girls to obtain keys for him and many other ways. When he saw the duke and duchess in hotel he thinks it would be excellent if he could get the key of their room. He manages to get the key from reception by trickery, gets a duplicate prepared and steals fifteen thousand dollars and some jewelry from the duchess's room. After obtaining so much he decides to leave the hotel and boards elevator number 4. Climax: The meeting to take over the hotel scheduled at 11:30 am Friday is in place. Mr. Dempster from New York arrives to tell who his boss is and it is Albert Wells, the hotel guest whom Christine had taken care of and thought of as not a rich man, who has bought the hotel. To Peter's utmost surprise, he is appointed the Executive Vice-President of St. Gregory and would be running the hotel with Dempster being the officiating president, the position Dempster had in all other hotels owned by Albert Wells. It was within the meeting itself that Christine comes running and tells them that elevator number 4 has met with an accident and had a free fall, killing a worker. Dodo suffers a lot of injuries and is rushed to a hospital. It was then that Curtis realizes how much he loves Dodo and gets the best neurosurgeons for her. She is soon out of danger. The Duke is instantly killed. The Duchess, still cold on hearing that, is expressionless. The policeman, Captain Yolles, now thinks the blame for the hit-and-run could be easily moved on Duke as he is now dead and the Duchess could save herself. Keycase escapes unharmed and runs away with all his money, vowing to go straight. Warren Trent is happy that he could retain his hotel as its chairman. Herbie Chandler, the bell captain, is permanently paralyzed and never works again. Aloysius Royce leaves the hotel to study law but not before he and McDermott have a drink together. 

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Ned Kelly is forced by police persecution to become a bushranger. He robs several banks and is eventually captured after the Siege of Glenrowan. He is hanged in Melbourne. 

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Willie Morris as an adult looks back on his childhood in the early 1940s and how it was colored by his dearly beloved dog, a Jack Russell Terrier whom he had named Skip. Willie is a lonely 9-year-old child with a gruff, proud father, a Spanish Civil War veteran, and a charismatic, talkative mother, a housewife, but he is an only child and small for his age with few friends. His one companion is a young man who lives next door, Dink Jenkins, who is the local sports hero in Mississippi. However, when Dink is drafted to go to war, Willie's mother decides to buy him a dog, against his father's wishes, in order that he should have some company. Willie and Skip become firm friends very quickly. However, Willie gets bullied at school by Big Boy Wilkinson, Henjie Henick, and Spit McGee, until Dink sends him a German helmet and belt from the front line. The other boys demand he play ball in order to win back his belongings, while Skip leaps in to help him. That same day, the three boys talk Willie into spending the night in a graveyard, where they claim a witch is buried. If he stays there, he gets to join their gang and also keep the ball Dink signed for them; otherwise, he has to give them his German helmet. Willie stays at the graveyard for a number of hours until he hears two moonshiners Millard and Junior who are loading crates into a crypt. Skip jumps on Millard until Junior comes at him with a spade. Willie slingshots Junior with an acorn and attempts to escape the graveyard with Skip, but they are soon captured by Junior. He threatens to kill Skip unless Willie stays before sunrise. After the two men leave, the three boys return and accept Willie into their group as a reward. Skip, having always been a friendly dog, is known by everyone in the town, including black people - significant because Mississippi was still segregated at the time. Skip leads Willie through the best parts of his life; his boyhood days. Thanks to Skip, Willie now has three friends, and a girlfriend, Rivers. Skip is there for him when Dink gets home, shell-shocked and a drunkard since dishonorably discharged from the Army, presumably for desertion. However, when Willie's first ball game comes along, Skip and Willie have their first falling out. Dink agrees to come along, but does not bother because since the war he has found competitions do not interest him anymore. Skip, wanting to cheer Willie up, runs onto the field and sits wagging his tail, refusing to leave. Angry and embarrassed by his poor performance at the game, causing his team to lose, Willie publicly hits Skip across the muzzle and he disappears without a trace. Unbeknownst to Willie, Skip has returned to the crypt, and has been accidentally shut in the grave where moonshine is being stored. As Willie searches in the graveyard, he hears Skip's barks and runs to save him, but Junior knocks the dog unconscious with the spade. Dink arrives and manages to eject the two moonshiners. As the Morris family and their friends gather in solemnity in the vet's waiting room, Skip nearly dies from his injuries in Willie's arms, but the dog awakens, licking Willie's hands and face. Willie explains about his friendship with Skip, that he had been an only child and Skip an only dog. When Willie leaves to go to Oxford Universityin 1957, Skip remains with Willie's parents, sleeping in Willie's old room, and then dies of arthritis on Willie's bed at age 11, being buried under the elm tree by Mr. and Mrs. Morris with Mr. Morris telling Willie of Skip's death. 

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The series is set in 1961. Cameraman Viktor Khrustalyov is in a difficult situation; he is suspected of being involved in the death of his friend, talented screenwriter Kostya Parshin, who committed suicide during a drinking-bout. The authorities try to put Khrustalyov in prison by any means. Viktor needs to shoot the comedy "The Girl and the Brigadier" in order to get permission to make the film "Shards" after the wonderful scenario left from his deceased screenwriter friend. Young director Yegor Myachin wants to adapt this screenplay. Khrustalyov arranges him as a trainee to the venerable director Krivitsky for a comedy. In the same film act Khrustalev's ex-wife Inga and his young sweetheart Maryana, with whom Yegor Myachin is also in love. 

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In Corey's room, an unseen person steals her piggy bank from her dresser. The theft is witnessed by Papa Smurf, who emerges from a Smurfs comic book with the other Smurfs and alerts the other cartoon characters in the room (Garfield as a lamp, Alf from a framed picture, Baby Kermit as an alarm clock, Winnie the Pooh as a stuffed animal, and Alvin and the Chipmunks from a record sleeve, and Slimer who passes through a wall). The cartoon characters track down the thief and discover that it is Corey's older brother, Michael. Simon opens a box under Michael's bed and identifies its contents as marijuana. Meanwhile, Corey expresses her concerns about Michael's change in behavior. He storms out of the house. The cartoon characters quickly realize that something must be done about his addiction and they set off, leaving Pooh behind to look after Corey. At the arcade, Michael smokes pot with his old "friends" and "Smoke", an anthropomorphic cloud of smoke. They run out and are chased into an alley by a policeman, who is then revealed to be Bugs Bunny wearing a policeman's hat. He traps Smoke in a garbage can and uses a time machine to see when and how Michael's addiction started. It turns out he became addicted to drugs through peer pressure by some older high school kids. After Michael has returned to the present, he meets up with his "friends" and they decide they want to do some crack. He is hesitant until one steals his wallet. He and Smoke chase after her, until they fall down a manhole and meet up with Michelangelo, who tells them that the drugs are messing up his brain. Soon after, Baby Kermit, Baby Piggy, and Baby Gonzo take Michael on a tour of the human brain. There, Huey, Dewey, Louie, and Tigger join the rest of the cartoon characters in trying teaching Michael the many "Wonderful Ways to Say No." Michael wakes up in his room, believing the whole thing to be nothing but a nightmare. Corey walks in and tries to talk to him, but he loses his temper and angrily yells at her. He comes to his senses and tries to apologize, but she runs out frightened. Saddened, he looks at himself in a small mirror and is shocked to see Alf looking at him. Alf grabs him and pulls him into the mirror. Inside a Hall of Mirrors, Alf shows Michael his reflection of how he is today, then this reflection if he does not stop taking drugs: an aged, corpse-like version of himself. When he insists that he could quit if he wants to and that he is in charge of his own life, Alf takes him to see the "man in charge". He is horrified to see that Smoke is the "man in charge". Later, Corey and Pooh go back into Michael's room and find his marijuana box. Smoke appears and throws Pooh inside a cabinet and starts tempting Corey into trying it. She reasons that if she does so, then maybe she and Michael could have fun together like they used to before he started doing drugs. Meanwhile, the drug-induced carnival in Michael's mind leads him to Daffy Duck who reads Michael's future in his crystal ball - and it's an even sicklier version of himself than before. After one last warning from the cartoon characters, Michael comes back into his room, just in time to stop Corey from using the drugs herself. He tells her that he never wants to see her end up like him, and admits he was wrong, though he is unsure if he can change. She advises him to talk about his problems with their parents and to her. Smoke tries to persuade him otherwise, but he throws him out the window, as he feels that he has "listened to him long enough." After falling in a garbage truck, Smoke vows to return. After Smoke leaves, all of the cartoon characters appear on a poster on Michael's wall as a reminder to always say no when confronted by drugs. Michael smiles at Corey as they go tell their parents about his drug problem. 

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Mike Donnelly, a good-natured but loud and bumbling oddball of his family, is driving an advertisement truck to support his brother Al Donnelly's campaign for Governor of Washington. His competition is incumbent Evelyn Tracy. Mike is chased by dogs while driving and crashes into a local movie theatre. Al's campaign manager, Roger Kovary, advises Al to get rid of Mike, but Al decides to have Mike campaign for him in town with the assistance of campaign aide Steve Dodds, who accepts the job in return for a spot on Al's staff following the election. As Steve goes to pick up Mike, he hits crazed Vietnam veteran Sgt. Drake Sabitch, who ends up stealing his rental car. Later on, Mike tries to stop underage kids from drinking, but incriminating pictures make it look like he was drinking with them, leading to his termination from a county recreation center. While packing up, he runs into a pair of thugs who set fire to the building, while the same photographer takes potentially incriminating pictures of Mike right after the thugs leave the scene of the fire. However, the first cop to arrive at the scene is Robbie Mighuem, a friend of Mike's who lets him and Steve leave before the police arrive. The two take off in Mike's car and, per Kovary's instructions, head for a shack in rural Garfield County. The next day, as Steve and Mike hang fliers, Steve tries to make a call via cell phone; while looking for a place with reception, Steve stumbles upon the home of the aforementioned Drake Sabitch - an old school bus with a TV, a hammock, a grill, and several weapons. While trying to find a high-ground to get reception on his phone, Steve accidentally loosens a rock in a pile of stones. Later on, as the guys play checkers, a huge boulder rolls down the mountain, almost completely knocking their cabin off its foundation; that night, a stormy wind blows the roof away and hail falls inside. The next day, Mike tries to talk to Al, but Kovary refuses, so Mike decides to head into Seattle that night to talk to Al, who is going on MTV's Rock the Vote campaign. However, after hanging out with some Rastafarians and being mistaken for his brother, Mike makes a fool of himself onstage (culminating to his yelling "KILL WHITEY!" to a suddenly silent audience) as a shocked Al and Kovary helplessly watch. Because of his stunt, Al decides to no longer let Mike help him with the campaign, leaving Mike down. The next day, Steve and Mike sneak into Drake's home (after dodging some hidden land mines) to watch Al's debate on his TV. When Steve goes outside to use the restroom, he is attacked by Drake, but is saved by Mike, who beats the ex-soldier in unarmed combat. Drake is impressed by Mike's fighting skill and befriends both men. Governor Tracy, in hopes of sabotaging Al following their debate, purchases the pictures of Mike at the rec center fire and posts them on TV, therefore allowing Tracy to win the election. Mike notices that the total vote count is 1,882 for Garfield County, when in fact there are only 1,502 registered voters there; furthermore, Mike recognizes the two men who set the rec center on fire standing next to Tracy. Mike and Steve go to the Garfield County Courthouse, where they obtain the names of the voters in the election. They discover that over half the people who voted for Tracy have been dead for over ten years (including Drake's father and grandfather), proving Tracy had rigged the elections. To get this to the people and Al, Mike and Steve borrow Robbie's squad car to get to Governor Tracy's victory party the following day. At the party, the duo appears during Tracy's victory speech and the police try to arrest Mike for arson. At the podium, Mike takes a gun from one of the cops and pretends to hold Steve hostage, while Drake shows up in time to prevent a sniper from shooting Mike and controls the crowd by threatening them with an RPG. Mike reveals Tracy's election fraud, overturning the election results and making Al the winner. Three months later, Steve is Al's new assistant and advisor, replacing Kovary after earlier in the movie, he made Al choose between his career or being with his "loser" brother and as a result, Al fired him; Al offered Mike a job in his administration, but he declined since he got his job running the recreation center back; and Al has decreased crime rates in Washington. As Al and Steve enter a jet to go to a meeting, Mike's jacket gets caught in the plane's door, causing him to be trapped outside while it takes off. 

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Preston Waters (Bonsall) is an eleven-year-old boy who laments his relative lack of money compared to his entrepreneurial brothers and his office worker father (Rebhorn). His situation regularly leads him to humiliating situations including having his brothers commandeer his bedroom as an office for their home business, and being forced to attend a bully’s birthday with almost no money to pay for the amusement park. One day he’s involved in a bike accident with escaped convict Carl Quigley (Ferrer) who had just left a Zero Halliburton briefcase with $1,000,000 stolen cash inside in the care of bank manager Edward Biderman (Lerner) to be laundered and retrieved by an associate the next day. Afraid of drawing attention from the police, Quigley hastily hands Preston a signed blank check and flees the scene. Preston uses his computer to fill out the check himself for $1,000,000 and attempts to cash it the next day. He is taken to Biderman, who believes Preston is the associate named “Juice” that Quigley told him he was sending. Biderman fills Preston’s backpack with $1,000,000 in clean money and Preston leaves the bank just as the real Juice arrives to take delivery of Quigley’s money. An angered Quigley sets out to find Preston with the help of Biderman and Juice hoping to reclaim his stolen money. Meanwhile, Preston goes on a spending spree purchasing a large house, a limousine service with a chauffeur named Henry (Ducommun), and then fills the house with toys, gadgets, and electronics all in the name of a mysterious employer he created named "Macintosh". Shay (Duffy), a teller from the bank, seeks out Preston and his employer Mr. Macintosh, after the realtor who sold the house to Macintosh deposits $300,000 cash with her bank. Shay, an undercover FBI agent investigating Biderman for money laundering, is suspicious of the sudden flow of cash that has come through Biderman’s bank and follows the trail to Preston/Macintosh. Denied a meeting with Macintosh, Preston claims that he handles some of Macintosh’s financial affairs and the two end up going on a business date. Later, Preston throws an expensive birthday party for himself and Macintosh for which the party planner takes at least $40,000 in cash from Preston, claiming it covers the fees for the event. Preston invites Shay and Henry to the party, with many others showing up. At the party, Preston learns that he only has $332 left and that he can’t pay the planner what he owes for the party. The planner shuts the party down, leaving Preston alone in the empty house. Quigley, Biderman and Juice arrive and demand Preston return the money, only to find out Preston has spent all of it in six days. After pursuing Preston throughout the property, the FBI shows up with Shay in time to save Preston. Quigley announces that he is Macintosh, thinking that assuming the false identity would grant him the new life he was seeking after escaping prison. However, the FBI arrest Quigley for numerous crimes they intended to charge to Macintosh, along with Biderman and Juice as accomplices. Preston says goodbye to Shay and Henry before returning to his family to celebrate his birthday, now understanding that money can’t buy happiness and that his family is what matters most. 

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It is June 1940, during the Battle of France. After five- year-old Paulette's parents and pet dog die in a German air attack on a column of refugees fleeing Paris, the traumatized child meets 10-year-old Michel Dollé whose peasant family takes her in. She quickly becomes attached to Michel. The two attempt to cope with the death and destruction that surrounds them by secretly building a small cemetery among the ruins of an abandoned watermill, where they bury her dog and start to bury other animals, marking their graves with crosses stolen from a local graveyard, including one belonging to Michel's brother. Michel's father first suspects that Michel's brother's cross was stolen from the graveyard by his neighbour. Eventually, the father finds out that Michel has stolen the cross. Meanwhile, the French gendarmes come to the Dollé household in order to take Paulette. Michel cannot bear the thought of her leaving and tells his father that he would tell him where the stolen crosses are, but in return he should not give Paulette to the gendarmes. His father doesn't keep his promise: Michel destroys the crosses and Paulette ends up going to a Red Cross camp, but at the end of the movie is seen running away into a crowd of people in the Red Cross camp, crying for Michel and then for her mother. 

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Honey Whitlock is a Hollywood A-list actress whose public persona is that of a sweet and considerate woman, but who is actually a profane, unreasonable, and demanding diva. While in Baltimore to attend a premiere, Honey is kidnapped by the manic film director, Cecil B. Demented, and his band of misfit, Andy Warhol–worshiping artists who have branded themselves "kamikaze filmmakers", going by the group name "SprocketHoles". Each of the SprocketHoles has infiltrated the staff of the theater where the premiere is to take place; they subsequently kidnap Honey as she concludes her remarks on stage. In the ensuing mayhem, the group escapes. Honey is taken to an abandoned movie theater where she is kept gagged with tape on her mouth, tied up and blindfolded. Honey is introduced to Cecil's crew of followers, each of whom wears a tattoo of a noted filmmaker and reveals unique, individual quirks. Cecil explains that he wants to make his masterpiece film and needs Honey to star as the lead. At first she resists, shooting scenes with no emotion, but when Cecil demands better results, Honey gives an over-the-top performance in the film's opening scene which pleases him. Apart from the first scene, Cecil, Honey and the crew roam around the city filming scenes at real (unapproved) locations, often involving innocent bystanders in the process. The group's first location is a movie theater playing Patch Adams: The Director's Cut, which they storm with guns and smoke bombs before leaving with their footage. Several bystanders note in interviews that Honey seems younger and cooler than in her recent Hollywood films, but a spokesman for the Baltimore Film Commission "says no to cinema terrorism". Inspired, Cecil decides to invade the luncheon the Commission is hosting. The group crashes the event and Cecil orders Honey to jump off the roof of a nearby building, which she does without safety measures. A gunfight ensues between Cecil's crew and the police. As gunfire is exchanged, Rodney the hairdresser is killed and Cecil is wounded. Honey uses the opportunity to turn herself in to the authorities and they take her away in a police car, but she is retrieved by the film group soon after. As Honey seems to become more comfortable with her situation, possibly developing Stockholm syndrome, she watches a television special discussing her disappearance. Persons who knew her, including her ex-husband, are interviewed and come clean about how mean-spirited she was in daily life. Honey now realizes that her desire to escape would only lead her back to Hollywood, where she is hated for being rude. She resists the idea of joining Cecil's followers but changes her mind and declares herself "Demented forever", burning a brand into her arm and officially joining the motley crew. After these events, the crew invades the set of the Forrest Gump sequel being filmed in Baltimore, at Honey's suggestion. When the SprocketHole crew arrives, they subdue and replace many of the film's crew. A gunfight breaks out between Cecil's friends and Teamsters who got free. Members of Cecil's crew are either killed or wounded. The surviving SprocketHoles and Honey flee to a nearby pornographic theater and seek refuge inside. The audience helps Cecil escape. At their last location, Cecil is shooting the final scene at a local drive-in while law enforcement are alerted. Cecil and the crew take over the projection room, and he proceeds to excite the crowd into a frenzy. He asks Honey to light her hair on fire for the final shot (which she does). With the film finished, the SprocketHoles start having sex in public before the authorities step in. Cecil sets himself completely ablaze as police arrive, to give Honey a chance to run away. In the ensuing chaos, some crew members escape with the raw film footage while others are shot. Honey is taken into custody; she is surprised and pleased by the new affection shown to her by the crowd as she is put into the police van. 

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When school ends for the summer, Gerry Garner’s parents send him to Camp Hope, a weight loss camp for boys. Initially reluctant, Gerry meets enthusiastic camp counselor Pat, and befriends the other campers, who have smuggled in enough junk food for the entire summer. The first night at Camp Hope brings the revelation that the original owners, the Bushkins, have declared bankruptcy and the camp has been bought by fitness entrepreneur Tony Perkis, who plans to transform the camp’s weight loss program into a best- selling infomercial. Tony replaces the camp’s beloved activities, including go-karts and ”the Blob”, with a punishing exercise regimen. Pat is replaced by the strict new counselor Lars, and the campers endure a painful softball game against their more athletic, over-competitive rivals, Camp MVP. When Tony purges the cabins’ hidden food caches, camper Josh stands up for Gerry by taunting Tony, and is sent home. Tony arranges a dance with Camp Magnolia, a girls’ summer camp, to humiliate the boys into losing weight, but counselors Tim, Pat, and camp nurse Julie convince everyone to enjoy themselves together. Josh returns to Camp Hope, revealing that his father, a lawyer, threatened to sue Tony for kicking his son out without a refund. Gerry and his friends sneak into Tony’s office in search of their confiscated snacks, and learn that Tony has intercepted all the campers’ letters to their families, including the letter that Gerry wrote to his grandmother. They discover a secret food stash used by most of the camp, leading them to gain weight, and Tony forces the boys on a twenty-mile hike, preparing to endanger their lives for the sake of fitness. The boys trick Tony into falling into a pit, and imprison him at camp in a makeshift cell, electrified with a bug zapper. With Pat, Julie, and Tim on their side, the campers take back control of Camp Hope, tying up Lars in the woods with Tony’s other counselors, and celebrating with a binge eating bonfire party. The next morning, Pat rallies the campers to take responsibility for themselves and start losing weight, and they all start a healthier regimen while making Camp Hope fun again. The boys’ parents arrive for visiting day and are shown a video documenting Tony’s cruelty, which is interrupted by Tony, having escaped his cell. Exchanging blows with Gerry’s father, he attempts a series of backflips but knocks himself out. As Tony is taken away, his own father arrives and promises to refund everyone’s money, but announces that the camp will be closed. The boys ask for the camp to stay open, and Pat – with eighteen years’ experience and the support of Gerry and the others – agrees to assume responsibility for Camp Hope. Under Pat’s leadership, the campers restore their favorite activities, and prepare to face Camp MVP in their annual competition. Camp MVP takes the lead in the first event, an obstacle course, but Camp Hope catches up in the second round, a test of knowledge. In the final go-kart race, Gerry wins the competition for Camp Hope. Demonstrating that having fun is more important than winning, Pat throws the trophy in the lake, and seals his romance with Julie with a kiss. As Camp Hope celebrates their victory, Gerry thanks Pat for the best summer of his life. In a post-credits scene, Tony has become an unsuccessful door-to- door salesman selling healing crystals. 

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When gang master Hung died, his two followers Cheung and Chapman To were sent to Thailand to look for his son, Georgie Hung, to succeed him. Georgie, who is gay and lives as a cook with his boyfriend Frankie, is uninterested to continue his father's work. But his close friend Sam, adored the life of a gangster and took his position instead. Sam and Georgie thus returned to Hong Kong with their identities swapped. Upon returning, they discovered that Hung had accidentally killed Cheng Chow's father and now Cheng Chow, a leading gangster of a friendly gang, led by Chan Wai-Man, is looking to avenge for his father's death. Meanwhile, Chan Wai-Man wanted to let his daughter Julie to marry Sam in order to strengthen the bond between the two gangs. Sam initially agrees but later changed his mind when he discovered that Julie is not in love with him. Finally, Cheng Chow kidnapped both Julie and Sam and forced Georgie to lead his gang on a rescue mission. Georgie, with help from Julie and Sam, defeated Cheng Chow in the final battle and told him to accept the fact that his father's death was an accident. Then Cheng Chow saved Georgie when one of his men tried to take his life. Julie and Sam fell in love during the kidnapping and decided to get married while Sam and Georgie took joint leadership of the gang. 

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An abandoned boat drifts into New York Harbor, and is boarded by two harbor patrolmen. A zombie kills one of the patrolmen, but is shot by the man’s partner and falls overboard; the dead patrolman's body is taken to the morgue. Anne Bowles (Tisa Farrow) is questioned by police, as the boat belonged to her father. She claims he is conducting research on Matul, a Caribbean island. A newspaper reporter, Peter West (Ian McCulloch), is investigating the story; he and Bowles learn that Bowles' father is suffering from a strange illness on the island. They hire a boat and two guides—Brian Hull (Al Cliver) and his wife Susan Barrett (Auretta Gay)—to reach Matul. Meanwhile, on Matul, Dr. David Menard (Richard Johnson), and his wife Paola (Olga Karlatos) have been researching the phenomenon of zombie reanimation. Paola wishes to flee the island, but Menard insists on staying. That night, Paola is alone in the house when a zombie tries to enter; she pushes the door shut but it breaks through with one arm. Paola is dragged through the hole and killed, with her eye being gouged out by splintered wood. Approaching Matul, Barrett dives in the ocean around the boat. She encounters a shark, and flees behind a reef only to be accosted by a submerged zombie. Surfacing, she reaches the boat while the shark and zombie attack each other. Eventually, the boat docks at Matul. Menard is alarmed to find that one of his colleagues has died of the zombie infection; he waits for the body to reanimate before shooting it in the head. While digging a grave for the body, he hears gunfire and follows it to discover the boat group. Menard sends them back to his mansion in order to fetch his wife, where they discover Paola's corpse being eaten by zombies. The group fends off an attack and escapes in a jeep, with West suffering an ankle injury when the vehicle veers off-road. Resting in a jungle clearing, the group realize they have encountered a Conquistador-era graveyard; Barrett is killed when one of the corpses rises from the earth and bites out her throat. As more corpses reanimate, the group flees to the local hospital, where Menard explains that the dead are rising as a result of a voodoo curse which he has been trying to stop. The hospital is besieged by zombies, and Menard is killed by one of his former staff. As the zombies attempt to enter, those being treated for infection inside the hospital also reanimate, killing several hospital staff who have stayed behind. As the dead outside breach the door, Bowles sets the building on fire; the undead Barrett bites Hull but is shot in the head by West. Bowles, West and Hull escape to the boat and leave the island. At sea, Hull dies of his infection, and his body is locked in a cabin to be used as evidence of what has happened. However, as the boat approaches New York again, a radio broadcast reports that the city is under attack from zombies—the result of the initial attack in the harbor. 

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In 1980 Madrid, young film director Enrique Goded is looking for his next project when he receives the unexpected visit of an actor looking for work. The actor claims to be Enrique's boarding school friend and first love, Ignacio Rodriguez. Ignacio, who is now using the name Ángel Andrade, has brought with him a short story titled "The Visit" hoping that Enrique would be interested in making a film out of it giving him the starring role. Enrique is intrigued since "The Visit" describes their time together at the Catholic boarding school and it also includes a fictionalized account of their reunion many years later as adults. "The Visit" is set in 1977. It tells the story of a transgender drag queen with the stage name Zahara, whose birth name is Ignacio. Zahara plans to rob a drunken admirer but discovers that the man is her boyhood lover Enrique. Next she visits her old school and confronts Father Manolo, who abused her when she was a boy. She demands one million pesetas from him in exchange for halting publication of her story "The Visit". The story is set in a Catholic boarding school for boys in 1964. At the school, Ignacio, a young boy with a beautiful singing voice, is the object of lust of Father Manolo, the school principal and literature teacher. Ignacio falls in love with a young Enrique, and the two go the local cinema and grope each other. Manolo discovers them together that night. Although Ignacio allows Manolo to molest him in exchange for not punishing Enrique, he expels him nonetheless. Enrique wants to adapt the story but balks at Ángel's condition to be cast as Zahara, feeling that the Ignacio whom he loved and the Ignacio of today are totally different people. He drives to see Ignacio's mother in Ortigueira, Galicia and learns that the real Ignacio has been dead for four years and that the man who came to his office is actually Ignacio's younger brother, Juan. Enrique's interest is piqued, and he decides to do the film with Juan in the role of Ignacio to find out what drives Juan. Enrique and Ángel start a relationship, and Enrique revises the script so that it ends with Father Manolo, whom Ignacio was trying to blackmail to get money for sex reassignment surgery, having Ignacio murdered. When the scene is shot, Ángel breaks out in tears unexpectedly. The film set is visited by Manuel Berenguer, who is the real Father Manolo, who has resigned from Church duty. Berenguer confesses to Enrique that the new ending of the film is not far from the truth: the real Ignacio blackmailed Berenguer, who somehow managed to scratch together the money but also took an interest in Ignacio's younger brother, Juan. Juan and Manolo started a relationship and after a while realized they both wanted to see Ignacio dead. Juan scored some very pure heroin, so that his brother would die by overdose after shooting up. After the crime, the relationship disintegrates; Berenguer wants to continue the relationship with Juan, but Juan is uninterested. Berenguer claims that he will never let Juan go, and Juan threatens to kill him if Berenguer continues to pursue him. Berenguer attempts to blackmail Juan for his part in the murder of Ignacio. Enrique is shocked and not at all interested in Juan's weak vindications for what he did to his brother. Finally, before he leaves, Juan gives Enrique a piece of paper: a letter to Enrique that Ignacio was in the middle of typing when he died reading "I think I have succeeded..." An epilogue states that after the release of the film Juan and Enrique both achieved great success, although Juan was later relegated to television acting after his career declined in the 1990s and killed Berenguer in a hit-and-run because of his continued blackmailing of him. 

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Noriko (Setsuko Hara), a secretary in Tokyo, lives in Kamakura, Kanagawa with her extended Mamiya family, which includes her parents Shūkichi and Shige (Ichirō Sugai and Chieko Higashiyama), her older brother Kōichi (Chishū Ryū), a physician, his wife Fumiko (Kuniko Miyake), and their two young sons Minoru (Zen Murase) and Isamu (Isao Shirosawa). An elderly uncle (Kokuten Kōdō) arrives from the provinces to visit Tokyo, and reminds everyone that Noriko, who is 28, is at an age when she should marry. At work, Noriko's boss Satake (Shūji Sano) recommends a match for her involving a forty-year-old friend of his, Mr. Manabe, who is a businessman and an avid golfer. Noriko's friends are divided into two groups—the married and the unmarried—who tease one another endlessly, with Aya Tamura (Chikage Awashima) being her close ally in the unmarried group. The Mamiya family applies gentle pressure on Noriko to accept the match proposed by Satake, primarily through their acceptance of the cultural assumption that it is time for her to marry, and that the match proposed is a good one for a woman of her age. Childhood friend Kenkichi Yabe (Hiroshi Nihonyanagi), a doctor and a widower, is father to a young daughter. Yabe arranges to have tea and cakes with Noriko and gives her a sheaf of wheat. The sheaf is a gift from a brother who was killed during World War II and who had asked Yabe to deliver it to Noriko in case he did not return. Later, Yabe is posted to Akita, in northern Honshu. Akita is considered so rural that Noriko and Aya make fun of the accent of the area. But when Yabe's mother Tami (Haruko Sugimura) impulsively asks Noriko to marry Kenkichi and follow them in their northward resettlement, Noriko agrees. When Noriko reveals her decision to her family, the Mamiyas are quietly devastated. They hint to her that the match is a poor one. When Noriko persists, the family is forced to live with their disappointment. The family gradually accepts Noriko's choice with quiet resignation, and before Noriko moves on, the family takes a photograph together. Noriko's parents console themselves that Noriko and Kenkichi will move back to Tokyo in a few years' time, and the family will be reunited. Meanwhile, the parents move to a rural region to stay with Noriko's elderly uncle. In the final scene of the film a bride passes down the country road in her traditional costume, and Noriko's parents reflect on the impermanent nature of life. The final shot is of a barley field ripening, which signifies the season the film is set in: early summer. The Japanese name of the film in fact means Barley Harvest Time. 

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In August 1942, German soldiers enjoy leave in Cervo, Liguria, Italy after fighting in North Africa, where Unteroffizier Manfred "Rollo" Rohleder and Obergefreiter Fritz Reiser are both introduced to Leutnant Hans von Witzland, their new platoon commander. Their unit is promptly sent to the Eastern Front to participate in the Battle of Stalingrad. Witzland's platoon joins a company commanded by Hauptmann Hermann Musk. Musk leads an assault on a factory, which results in heavy casualties and Witzland's platoon being surrounded in a decrepit building. During a Soviet attack, Witzland, Reiser, Rollo, Emigholtz, and "GeGe" Müller go down to secure the sewers. Witzland gets separated from the others and captures a Soviet soldier named Irina; she offers to lead him to safety, but instead pushes him into the water and escapes. His men rescue him, and Emigholtz is found severely wounded by an explosive trap; they take him to a crowded aid station, where Emigholtz dies. They are then arrested by Hauptmann Haller, who has previously clashed with Witzland regarding the treatment of Soviet POWs. They end up in a penal battalion disarming land mines. Four weeks later, a brutal winter has set in and the Soviets have surrounded the German Sixth Army. Hauptmann Musk thus reassigns the penal battalion—which includes disgraced fellow officer Otto—to combat duty. Witzland's platoon defends a position from a Soviet tank column, and emerge victorious after a bloody battle. Hauptman Haller later orders von Witzland and his men to execute some unarmed civilians, much to their reluctance. Witzland, GeGe, and Reiser decide to desert and head towards Pitomnik Airfield in hopes of catching a plane back to Germany, stealing medical tags from some dead bodies along the way to feign being wounded. By the time they arrive, the last transport leaves without them as the base is shelled by Soviet artillery. They rejoin the others in the shelter, where they find Musk suffering from severe trench foot. While the men recover a German supply drop, Haller appears and holds them at gunpoint, but is quickly subdued; he accidentally shoots GeGe as he falls, killing him. Haller then pleads for his life, telling them about the supplies he is hoarding in a nearby house before being executed by Otto. In the house's cellar they find shelves stocked full of food and liquor, and Irina tied to a bed. Witzland cuts Irina free; she fears she will be considered a German collaborator, and both bond in their despair and disillusionment. As the rest of the men gorge themselves, a deluded and dying Musk tries to rally them to rejoin the fighting. Otto becomes hysterical and commits suicide. Rollo, the only one to obey the order, is last seen carrying Musk's corpse outside, only to find the Sixth Army surrendering to the Soviets. Irina offers to help Witzland and Reiser avoid capture, but while trudging through the snow they are shot at by the Soviets; Irina is killed and Witzland is mortally wounded. The Germans get away, but Witzland eventually becomes too weak and dies in Reiser's arms. Reiser cradles his body, reflecting on his time spent in North Africa before freezing to death. 

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An eminent Viennese doctor in Germany becomes increasingly disillusioned with the oppressive brutality of the Nazis. His wife, however, is flattered by the attentions of the Führer, and accepts a political post in Berlin. At first the doctor does nothing as his friends "disappear", but eventually, with the aid of an engineer, he creates a secret radio station from which he broadcasts condemnations of Hitler and prays for a "better" Germany to arise from the ashes of his ruined country. The birth of "Freedom Radio" sees the creation of an underground group of anti-Nazis who regard Karl as their leader. 

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This episode is a continuation of the Season 4 episode "Point of No Return". A spaceship that had been hidden in the outer solar system activates and begins approaching Earth, and its energy signature is matched to that of Martin Lloyd's escape pod suggesting that this is its mother ship. The military tracks down Lloyd (played by Willie Garson) and discovers that he has become the creative consultant for a television series whose concept he sold to a Hollywood studio, Wormhole X-Treme!. The parallels between Wormhole X-Treme! and the real SGC are clear. The Air Force had decided that while being a breach of secrecy, the show could prevent any future leaks of information about the Stargate program from being taken seriously. Jack O'Neill is given the position of the Air Force technical advisor to the show in order to covertly confront Lloyd about both the secrets he has leaked and the approaching spacecraft. He discovers that Lloyd has resumed using memory suppressants and does not consciously remember his previous encounter with them or his own extraterrestrial origin. O'Neill initially suspects Lloyd's associates of drugging him again, but in fact Lloyd started taking them on his own so that he could feel more comfortable with living on Earth. Lloyd's associates are indeed nearby, however, as well as another secret government group called the NID that wishes to seize the ship's technology for themselves. Lloyd has in his possession the remote control device necessary for boarding the empty ship when it arrives, thinking it merely another of the many functionless science fiction props used on the show, and both parties want to recover it. His associates kidnap O'Neill and Lloyd, injecting Lloyd with a memory-restoring drug. Before they interrogate him, however, O'Neill and Lloyd escape. O'Neill and Lloyd recover the remote control just as the spacecraft arrives, with the NID and Lloyd's associates in close pursuit. O'Neill gives the remote to Lloyd's associates allowing them to flee Earth, both because he sympathizes with their plight and to deny the ship's technology to the NID. Lloyd decides that he is comfortable with his new life and remains on Earth to continue consulting for Wormhole X-Treme!. At the end of the episode there is a "Making of Wormhole X-Treme!" featurette with interviews of several of the actors from the fictional show. Wormhole X-Treme is mentioned again in the season 8 episode "Citizen Joe", which reveals that the fictional show ran for one episode before being cancelled, though Mitchell later claims it ran for three episodes. Martin Lloyd returns in the milestone episode "200" in season 10, trying to write a TV film based on the fictional show. The latter episode stated that Wormhole X-Treme ran for ten seasons prior to cancellation. 

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The story is set in Dublin and County WexfordA Little Nearer Redemption: A novel in which innocence and the therapeutic power of talking have not lost their power., The New York Times, Set 10, 2000. and described from the viewpoint of Helen, a successful school principal living with her husband and two children in Ireland. She learns one day, that her brother Declan, who is homosexual, has been ill with AIDS for years, and refused to tell her until then. He asks her to deliver their mother and grandmother the news. This presents a challenge to Helen as she has had minimal contact with the two women due to deeply buried conflicts relating to Helen's past and her father's sudden death when she was a child. As the three women meet again they are forced to overcome these struggles for Declan's sake. The novel follows the painful journey they must take in order to correct the misunderstanding that exists between them. 

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The novel centers on the life of Dalia, a young Muslim woman living in Amman, Jordan. When she falls in love with Michael, a young Catholic major in the British Army, she is forced to keep the relationship a secret and rely on her friend Norma to act as an intermediary. Although the lovers are only able to be alone together on a handful of occasions and Dalia's virginity remains intact, her father is so enraged when he hears of the affair from her older brother that he kills her two months after her twenty-sixth birthday. Khouri claimed that as a result, she had been forced to seek asylum in Queensland, Australia. 

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During his year in the fifth grade, ten-year-old Joshua Beal (Joseph Cross) begins a personal search to find answers about life and death — a journey triggered by the passing of his beloved grandfather (Robert Loggia).Wide Awake Yahoo! Movies. Josh attends Waldron Mercy Academy, a private Catholic boys' school. The adults in his world have not been able to convince him that his grandfather is in good hands, so he sets out on a personal mission to find God. In their varying ways he is guided on his metaphorical journey by his best friend Dave (Timothy Reifsnyder) and a Philadelphia Phillies-loving nun (Rosie O'Donnell) who teaches at his school. Josh shows doubts about his religion as he questions if God truly exists, particularly when Dave is diagnosed with epilepsy and the moments as Josh experiences his first crush. As his academic year comes to an end, he finds his answer in an unexpected way.Overview The New York Times. 

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The last plan of Don Domenico Clericuzio, an aging Mafia boss, is to eventually have his family enter the legitimate world and assimilate into American society. Twenty-five years later, his grandson Dante and grandnephew Crocifisso "Cross" De Lena make their way through life, and the eighty-year-old Don is semi-retired. Cross, who holds a majority share in a Las Vegas casino, is supposed to become the strong arm of the family. However, when he refuses to take part in the murder of an old friend, Dante is left to be the sole tough guy. Dante's greed for power and blood lead him to plan the elimination of his relatives, who are an obstacle to the desire to become as powerful as the old Don himself. When Dante arranges a hit on Cross's father, strongman Pippi De Lena—who, in a subplot, once commanded the elimination of the rival Santadio Family whose scion, Jimmy, married Don Clericuzio's daughter Rose Marie and fathered Dante before his family's assassination, driving Dante's mother to insanity—Cross, who is aware of being on the blacklist, catches Dante in a trap. Having acted against the family, he waits for the Don's vendetta, but, to his own surprise, his life is spared and he is only condemned to exile. Cross then resumes his romance with actress Athena Aquitane. The story ends with the revelation that Don Clericuzio planned this outcome, even anticipating his grandson's death, all along, for the long-term survival of his family. 

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Shortly after completing their training at Two Rivers, the Spirit Monk helps fend off an attack by a Lotus Assassin, facing undead opponents in the process. Master Li reveals the Spirit Monk's past, his own identity as Sun Li and role in the destruction of Dirge, and the increasing threat of the undead that is tied directly to Emperor Sun Hai. During a final training session to recover an amulet of their people, the Spirit Monk meets the spirit of the Water Dragon, who reveals that Sun Hai has incapacitated her and left the Spirit Monk as the land's only hope. Master Li's preference for the Spirit Monk pushes the impatient Gao the Lesser over the edge, leading to his expulsion. Gao the Lesser then kidnaps Dawn Star and summons Lotus Assassins allied with his father Gao the Greater. The Spirit Monk rescues Dawn Star and defeats Gao the Lesser with help from Sagacious Zu, but the Lotus Assassins—led by Death's Hand and his second-in-command Grand Inquisitor Jia—destroy Two Rivers and capture Master Li. Using one of Gao the Greater's airships, the Spirit Monk travels to the village of Tien's Landing. During their time there, they fight and defeat Gao the Greater and learn that Master Li was taken to the Imperial Capital. While there the Spirit Monk finds two missing pieces from their amulet, acquires a map of wind currents that will allow passage to the Imperial Capital, and helps the village by purging the neighbouring Great Southern Forest of a corrupting force and closing a large dam, which allows trading vessels to navigate the river again. They are also joined by Wild Flower, who guarded one of the amulet fragments; Black Whirlwind, who was hired to eliminate the monsters in the Great Southern Forest; Sky, who was freeing slaves taken by the Lotus Assassins; and Kang the Mad, who was held captive by Gao the Greater. They are also first attacked and then aided by Silk Fox, who is determined to topple Death's Hand. Using Kang's special airship, the party travel to the Imperial Capital, where Silk Fox meets them in her true role as Princess Sun Lian. While in the Capital, the Spirit Monk gains access to the Lotus Assassins' ranks by competing in a local fighting tournament. Once among the Lotus Assassins, they dismantle them from within before retrieving the final amulet fragment from Grand Inquisitor Jia. Death's Hand then attacks, but Sagacious Zu sacrifices himself to collapse the Lotus Assassin base on Death's Hand. Led by Silk Fox, the group then infiltrate Sun Hai's palace, confronting the Emperor as he interrogates Master Li and finding him withered through using the Water Dragon's stolen power. After defeating him, Master Li kills the Spirit Monk and steals both the completed amulet and the Water Dragon's power, setting himself up as the new Emperor. The Spirit Monk is guided back to the living world by the Water Dragon and the ghost of Dirge's abbot, who reveals the truth about Master Li. Sun Li—who orchestrated the entire siege—had conspired with his brother Sun Kin to seize the Water Dragon's power and kill Sun Hai. The brothers' plot failed as the Water Dragon's power made Sun Hai immortal. Sun Kin was killed, while Sun Li barely escaped and killed the Spirit Monk's rescuer to use them as a weapon against Sun Hai. Death's Hand was created by the Emperor by binding Sun Kin's spirit to Sun Li's armor. Returning to life in Dirge, the Spirit Monk reunites with their companions and holds off a vast assault from Sun Li, who also sensed their return. In their final confrontation with Death's Hand, the Spirit Monk can either free or enslave Sun Kin's spirit. Infiltrating the Imperial Capital, the Spirit Monk's party fights their way through the palace and discovers the Water Dragon's body, torn open and preserved in limbo to provide endless water to the Jade Empire. The Spirit Monk then goes to confront Master Li. Depending on the player's choices at these points, one of several endings plays out. If the Spirit Monk surrenders to Sun Li by not fighting him, they are remembered as a hero who knew their place, as the Empire becomes an oppressive dystopia under Sun Li's rule. If the Water Dragon's corpse is further corrupted by the Spirit Monk, then they usurp Master Li's stolen power and emerge as the next Emperor following his death. If the Spirit Monk destroys the Water Dragon's body, then her spirit is freed, and the dead are able to find their way into the underworld, causing the people to rejoice and hail the Spirit Monk as a hero of the Jade Empire. 

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Set in the year AD 2225, mankind has spread from Earth to inhabit nearly all the planets or nearby moons in colonies and settlements. Space travel has grown and improved to the point of being commonplace. For the inhabitants of the solar system, an astronaut career isn't out of the question, and one of the schools set up to train future space voyagers is the Liebe Delta, a space station positioned somewhere in Earth's orbit. This growth is despite the mysterious phenomenon known as the Geduld, a sea of plasma that suddenly erupted from the sun along the Earth's orbital plane in AD 2137. Stretching from the sun to the edge of the solar system, this area of high temperatures and gravity pressures has never been explained. Kouji Aiba is a sixteen-year-old boy who packed his bags and left his home on Earth for the Liebe Delta and the training to obtain his Level 2 piloting license. He journeys to the space station accompanied by his childhood friend, Aoi Housen, whom Kouji discovers to his chagrin has enrolled in the Liebe Delta's flight attendant program. En route to the spaceport Aoi gives Kouji the additional unwelcome news that his younger brother, Yuki, is also to attend the Liebe Delta and in fact the brothers will be in the same flight class together. The list of Aoi's unfortunate news to Kouji is topped by her quipping that the boys' mother Mrs. Aiba had asked Aoi to look after the brothers while at school. Kouji's unhappy moodiness does not improve. Once aboard the space station, the students and teaching staff on the Liebe Delta were like any other school, normal and concerned with their own affairs and classes. They even had a vacation period, known as the Dive Break, when the space station ventured near the Geduld for system maintenance. Out of about 1000+ students, about 500 stayed for the break. Unknown to all, the space station, in the middle of the routine dive considered so regular that it has been entrusted to the elite Zwei cadet class, was sabotaged and the majority of the staff gassed and rendered unconscious, free falling into the depths of the Geduld Sea, where the resulting gravity pressures would crush the station and kill all aboard. The remaining adults, all instructors, sacrificed their lives in an act that they believed would save the majority of students on board. When their heroic actions proved unsuccessful and the Liebe Delta hung on the verge of collapsing, a mysterious ship named RYVIUS, hidden within the Liebe Delta activated itself and surfaced from the Geduld Sea. There were a total of 515 personnel on board the Liebe Delta at the beginning of the dive, of whom a total of 486 were successfully evacuated, meaning that a total of 29 people were killed in the sabotaged dive. 8 were instructors, 12 were the gassed staff who were later executed by the 2 saboteurs, and 9 students. The average age of the Ryvius crew is 16, so the story, despite its space-age setting, is more of a coming-of-age tale than anything else. Stranded in space, with humanity's governments forsaking them, and within the ship anger, agitation and fear setting in, Kouji tries his best to maintain a semblance of order and peace in a time of crisis. But with fighting his own brother Yuki, dealing with his feelings for the beautiful Uranian aristocrat Fina S. Shinozaki, trying to avoid Aoi, and seeing the strange apparition of a girl in pink wandering the halls, will Kouji be able to help until the Ryvius reaches safety, or will he lose all that's dear to him in the process? 

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The USS Enterprise, under the command of Captain Kirk, is in pursuit of an unregistered cargo spaceship. The ship overloads its engines in an escape attempt through an asteroid field. Kirk orders Enterprises shields extended around the other spacecraft to protect it until its occupants can be transported aboard Enterprise. This action destroys all but one of the lithium crystal circuits in the Enterprises warp engines.In later episodes warp engines are powered by dilithium rather than lithium crystals. The in-universe relation of a lithium crystal to a dilithium crystal has never been explained. It is possible its use was replaced by dilithium, or it could be a related component. The Enterprise beams the cargo ship's three passengers and captain aboard, just as an asteroid impact destroys their spaceship. In the transporter room, the captain gives his name as Leo Walsh. The three women who accompany him are stunningly beautiful, and they distract the male crew members of the Enterprise, excluding Mr. Spock, whose Vulcan heritage makes him immune to female charms. The women are intended as wives for settlers on the planet Ophiuchus III and are introduced as Ruth Bonaventure, Eve McHuron, and Magda Kovacs. All three signed on with Walsh to escape a situation in which her marriage prospects were slim or non-existent. Kirk convenes a hearing, during which the computer contradicts Walsh's testimony, reporting that his ship master's license has been revoked and forcing him to reveal his true name, Harcourt Fenton Mudd, a criminal with an extensive record. The hearing ends as the final lithium crystal fails. Without lithium crystals, the Enterprise must limp on reserve power to the storm-plagued planet Rigel XII to obtain new crystals from the miners there. Ben Childress, the chief miner, having been in contact with Mudd, demands his release along with the women in exchange for the crystals. The Enterprise's remaining power is insufficient to maintain the ship's orbit for more than a few days, threatening a fiery reentry into the planet's atmosphere, so Kirk is forced to allow Mudd and the women to beam down to the planet. However, once there Childress reneges on the deal. At an impromptu party with the three miners, Eve becomes angry when they begin fighting over the other two women, and runs away into a magnetic dust storm, with Childress and Kirk in pursuit. Kirk beams back to the Enterprise to try to locate them from orbit. Childress finds Eve, brings her to his quarters, and falls asleep. On waking, he is confronted with a much plainer Eve. Kirk and Mudd beam back down to the planet to deal with Childress. The captain reveals that Mudd has been giving the women the Venus Drug, which creates a transient, illusory beauty, and that the other two miners have already been married to Ruth and Magda. As Childress confronts Mudd over the deception, Eve snatches a dose of what appears to be the Venus Drug, but is in fact a placebo. This restores her self-confidence to the point that Childress finds her as attractive as before. Pleased, he gives Kirk the replacement crystals. Kirk offers to take Eve away with him but she opts to stay with Childress. Eve tells Kirk, "You've got someone up there called the Enterprise." The ship continues on its way, with Mudd in custody. 

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Jessica Martin (Kim Basinger) is a high school biology teacher who lives with her husband Craig (Richard Burgi), a realtor, and their son Ricky (Adam Taylor Gordon). One day, after taking Ricky to the bus stop for school, she is kidnapped by a group of five people who break into her house, kill her housekeeper, confine her in the attic of their safe house, and smash the landline telephone hanging on one of the beams in the attic to prevent her from contacting anyone. Jessica, however, manages to use the wires of the broken phone to contact a random number. Meanwhile, a carefree young man named Ryan (Chris Evans) is hanging out at Santa Monica Pier with his friend Chad (Eric Christian Olsen) when he comes across his ex- girlfriend, Chloe (Jessica Biel), who had previously dumped Ryan for being too irresponsible, self-centered, and completely childish. Hoping to get back together with Chloe, Ryan offers to hand out fliers for the pier's concert and pick up four boxes of t-shirts from Office Depot; initially, Ryan has Chad hand out the fliers until he returns with the t-shirts. On his way, Ryan gets a call on his cellphone, a Nokia 6600, from Jessica who informs him of her kidnapping situation. Although Ryan takes it as a prank call, Jessica persuades him to go to the police station, where he reports to Sergeant Bob Mooney (William H. Macy). When a fight between several police officers and apprehended gang members breaks out, Mooney is forced to intervene and tells Ryan to report the kidnapping to the robbery-homicide division. Ethan (Jason Statham), the gang leader, asks Jessica for the location of Craig, and when Jessica refuses to provide information Ethan wants, he leaves to get Ricky. Overhearing them, Ryan realizes that the kidnapping is real and gets to Ricky's school, only to see the boy kidnapped. He hijacks a security officer's car and gives chase. When his phone battery runs out, he takes the gun in the car and holds up a store to "buy" a charger. Deciding to check on Ryan's kidnapping claim, Mooney visits Jessica's house. He meets Dana Bayback (Valerie Cruz), the kidnappers' sole female, posing as Jessica, leading Mooney to believe the claim is a false alarm. With Ricky in tow, Ethan returns and asks Jessica about a place her husband Craig is hiding, "The Left Field". Jessica, fearing the kidnappers will kill her and her family once Craig is found, attacks Ethan, but is overpowered and confesses that it is a bar at the Los Angeles International Airport. Before Ethan departs, a woman (Lin Shaye) playing loud music in her car pulls up next to Ryan, but Ryan quickly silences his phone before Ethan can get suspicious. A cross-connection between phone lines causes Ryan to rob a nearby lawyer (Rick Hoffman)'s cellphone and car to maintain connection. At the airport, Ryan plants the gun on one of the kidnappers, triggering the alarm. When security intervenes, the kidnappers are revealed to be police officers and they proceed to apprehend Craig. While at a day spa with his wife, Mooney views a news report of Ryan holding up the store for the charger (and stealing the lawyer's phone and car) and calls Jessica's home. He notices the voice on the answering machine is different from that of the woman he met (who has an accent). The kidnappers escort Craig to his safe deposit box at a bank to retrieve a bag, but Ryan intervenes and flees with the bag, only to drop the lawyer's cellphone while being chased by the kidnappers. When Ryan opens Craig's bag, he finds Craig's video camera, on which Craig unintentionally filmed LAPD Detectives Ethan, Mad Dog (Brendan Kelly), Dimitri (Eric Etebari), Bayback, Deason (Matt McColm), and Mooney's friend Jack Tanner (Noah Emmerich), robbing and murdering two drug dealers, exposing them as dirty cops. Ryan steals the lawyer's car from the impound lot and retrieves his own cellphone. Mooney returns to the Martin residence, where he kills Bayback in self-defense when she shoots at him. Back at the safe house, Mad Dog learns that Jessica has been trying to contact help and attempts to kill her, but Jessica purposely cuts his brachial artery, causing him to bleed to death in seconds. Before Jessica and Ricky can escape, they are caught by Ethan's gang, but before they can be executed with Craig, Ryan contacts Ethan and makes a deal: the videotape in exchange for the Martin family at Santa Monica Pier. At the pier, Ryan disguises himself and refuses to give them the camera until the Martins are freed, but is found by Mooney and Tanner when Chloe inadvertently exposes him. Tanner sends Mooney away for medical attention, abducts Ryan and brings him to Ethan. Ethan destroys the videotape, and Tanner radios Deason to execute the Martins (although Deason decides to wait until they return to the safe house to execute them and avoid suspicion); however, Mooney overhears the transmission, overpowers Dimitri and handcuffs him before returning to the pier. Ryan escapes to a boathouse, following a distraction by Chad, where Tanner and Ethan chase after him. Ryan knocks out Tanner, but is overpowered by Ethan before Mooney shows up. After a brief chase, Ryan notices Ethan has circled behind Mooney and calls Ethan's cell phone. The phone's ringtone exposes Ethan's position, and Mooney shoots him. Jessica stuns Deason by strangling him with her handcuff chain in the van, then frees her husband and son; however, Deason recovers and attempts to kill them when Ryan intervenes and slams his head in the car door. While Ryan and Mooney are being treated by medics, Tanner is also exposed, because Ryan had copied the video recording onto his cellphone. Jessica finally meets Ryan, the man who risked his life to save her family, and Ryan humorously asks her to never call him again. 

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Elf Hunters seek five spell fragments that have been placed on the skin of elves, similar to tattoos, throughout the magical world they have been transported to. When they find them, they will be able to return to Japan. The Elf Hunters travel by means of a Type 74 tank, which has been transported to the magical world with them. The reaction of various elves as the team attempts to strip them naked is a primary basis for much of the show's humour, and are more ridiculous than risqué. The series is also known for breaking the fourth wall, mostly from Junpei. 

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Jaffeir and Belvidera as portrayed by David Garrick and Susannah Cibber Jaffeir, a noble but impoverished Venetian, has secretly married Belvidera, the daughter of a proud senator named Priuli, who has cut off her inheritance. Jaffeir's friend Pierre, a foreign soldier, stokes Jaffeir's resentment and entices him into a plot against the Senate of Venice. Pierre's own reasons for plotting against the Senate revolve around another senator (the corrupt, foolish Antonio) paying for relations with Pierre's mistress, Aquilina. Despite Pierre's complaints, the Senate does nothing about it, explaining that Antonio has senatorial privilege. Pierre introduces Jaffeir to the conspirators, led by bloodthirsty Renault. To get their trust, Jaffeir must put Belvidera in Renault's care as a hostage. That night, Renault attempts to rape Belvidera, but she escapes to Jaffeir. Jaffeir then tells Belvidera about the plot against the Senate. She devises a plan of her own: Jaffeir will reveal the conspiracy to the Senate and claim the lives of the conspirators as his reward. (Jaffeir would then choose to pardon some or all of the conspirators, notably his friend Pierre.) Jaffeir follows Belvidera's plan, but the Senate breaks its word and condemns all of the conspirators to death. In remorse for betraying Pierre and losing his honor, Jaffeir threatens to kill Belvidera, unless she can obtain a pardon for the conspirators. She does so, but the pardon arrives too late. Jaffeir visits Pierre before his execution. Pierre is crestfallen because he is sentenced to die a dishonourable death by hanging, not the death of a soldier. He forgives Jaffeir and whispers to him (unheard by the audience) to kill him honourably before he is executed. Just as Pierre is about to be hanged, Jaffeir rushes up to the gallows and stabs him; as a form of atonement, he then commits suicide. Belvidera then goes insane and dies. 

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Albert Markovski is a young man who heads the local chapter of an environmental group, the "Open Spaces Coalition". One of their current projects is an attempt to stop the building of a new Huckabees store, a chain of "big-box" department stores. Albert is a rival of Brad Stand, a shallow power executive at Huckabees. Brad infiltrates Open Spaces and charismatically displaces Albert as the leader. Dawn Campbell is Brad's live-in girlfriend and the face and voice of Huckabees; she appears in all of the store's commercials. After seeing the same conspicuous stranger three times, Albert contacts a couple of existential detectives, Bernard and Vivian Jaffe. The detectives offer Albert their optimistic brand of existentialism—they name it universal interconnectivity (which has some tenets of romantic and transcendentalist philosophies)—and spy on him, ostensibly to help him solve the coincidence. Bernard and Vivian introduce Albert to Tommy Corn, an obsessively anti-petroleum firefighter. Tommy is assigned to Albert as his 'other'. Tommy grows dissatisfied with the Jaffes, feeling that they are not helping him. Seeking out other possibilities, Tommy ends up abandoning and undermining the Jaffes by introducing Albert to Caterine Vauban, a former student of the Jaffes who espouses a seemingly opposing nihilistic/absurdist philosophy. She teaches them to disconnect their inner beings from their daily lives and their problems, to synthesize a non-thinking state of "pure being." Being lifted from their troubles, they wish to keep that feeling forever, yet she tells them that it is inevitable to be drawn back to the human drama, and to understand that the core truth of that drama is misery and meaninglessness. In order to prove her point, Caterine takes Albert to go and have sex in the woods, leaving Tommy behind. Tommy finds out about the two of them being together and feels hurt. Caterine tells him that they found each other through all of the human suffering and drama. Tommy rejects this idea and leaves them, furious and lost. Meanwhile, in Brad's further attempts to undercut Albert, he and Dawn meet with and are influenced by Bernard and Vivian. In the following days, Brad and Dawn rethink their entire lives: Dawn rejects the modeling world and looks for deeper meaning, while Brad realizes that his whole ascent on the corporate ladder is meaningless, as he has lived his whole life just trying to please others and not himself. All the storylines collide when Brad's house catches fire. While the fire trucks get stuck in a traffic jam, Tommy comes on his bicycle to put out the fire, which incidentally trapped Dawn inside. As he saves her life, the two fall in love. Meanwhile, Brad despairs at the destruction of his house, the symbol of his material success. Albert attains a sort of enlightenment when he synthesizes the two opposing outlooks of the Jaffes and Vauban to realize the cosmic truth of everything. Brad, meanwhile, is fired from Huckabees, leaving him rudderless. Albert reveals to Brad that he burned Brad's jet skis, and the fire spread to the house. Albert understands that he and Brad are no different, that everything really is inextricably connected, but that these connections necessarily arise from the often senselessly painful reality of human existence. Having realized this, he refers Brad to Caterine, hoping she will help him as she did Albert and Tommy. Albert and Tommy talk later about everything that has happened. As the two talk, Caterine and the Jaffes watch them, concluding that they can close both of their cases. 

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The storyline alternates between the present year of 1980 and the future year of 2013. In the future, Sentinels rule a dystopian United States, and mutants are hunted and placed in internment camps. Having conquered North America and hunted all mutants and other superhumans, the Sentinels are turning their attention to the rest of the world. On the eve of a feared nuclear holocaust, the few remaining X-Men, while making a desperate attempt to stop the Sentinels, send Kitty Pryde's mind backward through time, to possess the body of her younger-self and to prevent a pivotal event in mutant–human history and the cause of these events: the assassination of Senator Robert Kelly along with Charles Xavier and Moira MacTaggert by Mystique's newly reassembled Brotherhood of Evil Mutants. Working with the present-day X-Men, Kitty Pryde's future-self succeeds in her mission and is pulled back to her own time, while her present-day-self is returned with no memory of any interim. The world of 2013 is not shown again in this story arc; the present-day X-Men are left to ponder whether their future dystopia has been averted or simply delayed. 

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In an underground United States Air Force military base (Stargate Command in the Cheyenne Mountain Complex), five airmen are sat around a table playing poker in front of the covered Stargate which stands dormant. Despite the relaxed atmosphere, one of the Airmen, Carol Weterings expresses her concerns that an officer will catch them, to which she's reminded that nobody ever comes down to this level of the base since the program shut. Moments later the room begins to shake and the Stargate activates. Warriors in metal armour with serpent helmets (Jaffa) appear through the gate and grab Weterings. Teal'c (Christopher Judge) presents her to their leader (the Goa'uld Apophis) to examine, before ordering his men to open fire. The other airmen are killed in the ensuring firefight. As the attackers head back through the Stargate, Major General George Hammond (Don S. Davis) and his soldiers arrive to witness Weterings being carried away through the Stargate. Jack O'Neill (Richard Dean Anderson) is brought to Cheyenne Mountain where he's questioned along with his former teammates Charles Kawalsky (Jay Acovone) and Louis Ferretti (Brent Stait) about his first mission through the Stargate to Abydos. With O'Neill unwilling to give any more information than what was already on their mission reports, Hammond believes the only response is to send a nuclear bomb through the Stargate to Abydos, to eliminate the threat. O'Neill reveals he lied about using the bomb to destroy Abydos and that even though the alien Ra was killed, the people of Abydos are still alive and Dr. Daniel Jackson (Michael Shanks) is living among them. O'Neill convinces Hammond to let him communicate with Jackson by sending a box of tissues through to Abydos, which is then returned with "send more" written on by Jackson, proving he's alive. Hammond reinstates O'Neill to active duty, ordering him to return to Abydos to investigate where the alien invaders came from. A team is assembled with O'Neill commanding, along with Kawalsky, Ferretti, and Captain/Dr. Samantha Carter (Amanda Tapping). When they step through the Stargate, they find a group of Abydonians waiting for them, armed with military weapons from Earth. After being reunited with Jackson, Skaara (Alexis Cruz) and Sha're (Vaitiare Bandera) who is now married to Jackson, O'Neill, Kawalsky, and Carter are led by Jackson to a large cavernous room, filled with what he believes to be coordinates of a vast network of Stargates across the entire galaxy. Whilst O'Neill and the others are away, the same group of invaders come through the Abydos Stargate, kidnapping Skaara, Sha're and severely injuring Ferretti. After returning to Earth, and learning that the Stargate can go to other worlds, nine teams are put together, including SG-1, lead by O'Neill with Carter his second-in- command and Jackson, who is determined to find Sha're, accompanying him. Kawalsky is given command of SG-2. Ferretti is able to recall the coordinates entered by the enemy troops on the Stargate and the two teams head through the Stargate once more. Meanwhile, Jackson's wife Sha're is selected as host to a Goa'uld, Amonet, the Queen of Apophis. After coming through the Stargate, SG-1 encounters a group of monks who escort them to a town of Chulak where they encounter Apophis and the now possessed Sha're, before being captured. In prison, O'Neill, Carter and Jackson find Skaara and are confronted by the enemy soldier Teal'c who has noticed their technology. Skaara is selected to become a host and Teal'c is ordered to execute the remaining prisoners. A desperate O'Neill sees the conflict in a hesitant Teal'c and pleads that he can help. Believing O'Neill, Teal'c turns on his fellow soldiers and helps them escape. O'Neill, Carter, Jackson, and Teal'c lead the prisoners toward the Stargate but get pinned down by two Goa'uld death gliders from above. O'Neill and Teal'c are able to damage one, before being rescued by SG-2 two destroy the other. As team and liberated prisoners reach the Stargate, they are once again met by a possessed Skaara who departs through the Stargate. Daniel rushes to open the Stargate back to Earth as the team defends against an entire an battalion of attacking Jaffa. As they retreat through the Stargate to Earth, Kawalsky is invaded by an infant Goa'uld, unknown to the others. Safely home on Earth, Jackson and O'Neill reaffirm their determination to find Sha're and Skaara and rescue them. O'Neill asks General Hammond to make Teal'c a member of their team, but the General says it is not his decision. As everyone leaves the gate room, Kawalsky's eyes glow like a Goa'uld. 

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The first act of the film covers Lincoln's early life as a storekeeper and rail-splitter in New Salem and his early romance with Ann Rutledge, and his early years as a lawyer and his courtship and marriage to Mary Todd in Springfield. The majority of the film deals with Lincoln's presidency during the American Civil War and culminates with Lee's surrender and Lincoln's assassination at Ford's Theatre. 

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The protagonist XXXX (otherwise unnamed) is a London cocaine distributor who operates with the care and professionalism of a legitimate businessman. His chief associates are Morty and Gene, his liaisons to mob boss Jimmy Price. Just as XXXX is ready to retire from criminal life, Jimmy demands of him two tasks. The first is to track down Charlie, an associate's drug-addicted runaway daughter. XXXX enlists con men Cody and Tiptoes, who determine Charlie has apparently been kidnapped, but no ransom demand made. The second is to oversee the purchase of one million ecstasy tablets from low-level gangster “the Duke.” Unbeknown to XXXX, the Duke and his crew have stolen the pills from an infamous gang of Serbian war criminals. XXXX meets the Duke's feckless nephew Sidney and shares an attraction with Sidney's girlfriend Tammy. XXXX tries to broker the sale of the pills to Liverpool gangsters Trevor and Shanks but they refuse, informing him of the pills’ origin and that the vengeful Serbians have sent an assassin, Dragan, to recover the pills and kill the thieves. As the Duke had mentioned his name to the Serbians, XXXX is also a target. XXXX arranges a tryst with Tammy but is kidnapped and brought to mob boss Eddie Temple. Eddie explains that Charlie is his daughter, whom he has recovered; Jimmy, having recently lost a fortune through Eddie, wanted her as a hostage until Eddie recouped his losses. Eddie gives XXXX a recording revealing Jimmy to be a long-time informant for Scotland Yard, who intended to betray XXXX to the police once the pills were sold, thereby gaining clemency and XXXX's own wealth. Eddie demands that XXXX sell him the pills instead. Furious, XXXX kills Jimmy at his home, but later finds that his accountant, an associate of Jimmy's, has vanished along with XXXX's money. Confronted by Gene and Morty, he shares the evidence of Jimmy's betrayal, and the pair acknowledge him as the new acting boss. Gene shows them the corpse of the Duke, whom his unnamed henchman killed in the wake of the disastrous pill robbery. XXXX attempts to lure Dragan into an ambush but fails, and promises to recover the pills. Sidney brings XXXX to the Duke's crew's hideout, and as they bargain for the pills, the police arrive. The criminals barely escape the raid, and Dragan watches from afar as the pills are confiscated. However, XXXX arranged for the raid, with Cody and Tiptoes posing as officers to secure the pills. XXXX delivers the Duke's severed head to Dragan as a peace offering; satisfied, Dragan reports to the Serbians that the police have seized the drugs. When XXXX and his crew arrive at Eddie's warehouse to sell the pills as arranged, Eddie's henchmen relieve them of the drugs at gunpoint, and Eddie welcomes him “to the layer cake” of the criminal hierarchy. Having anticipated this double-cross, XXXX has arranged for Trevor and Shanks to steal the drugs back from Eddie's men. The gang assembles for lunch at the Stoke Park Country Club, honouring their new boss; nevertheless, XXXX follows through on his decision to retire. With Tammy on his arm, he exits the club, and is shot by the jilted but apologetic Sidney. XXXX collapses, contemplating his uncertain fate. 

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The novel opens with protagonist Adam Farmer biking from his home in the fictional town of Monument, Massachusetts (based on Cormier's home town of Leominster, Massachusetts) to visit his father in Rutterburg, Vermont. The story alternates with transcripts of tapes between a "subject" and Brint. The subject receives psychotherapy and is interrogated by Brint. As the book continues, it is revealed that Adam is the subject, who was formerly Paul Delmonte of a small New York town. His father, "David Farmer", was a newspaper reporter who was enrolled in the Witness Protection Program (WPP). The family moved to Monument and escaped several close calls with their identities, but the parents are killed in the penultimate chapter in a car collision. Adam/Paul survives, and is taken to a government mental asylum. The last chapter implies that WPP agents killed the family and reveals that Paul is regularly interrogated on the topic. Each time, Paul is unable to handle his realizations of his past and embarks on his delusional bike ride across the ground of the facility. At the end of the last tape, Brint recommends authorization to murder Adam. 

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The series' protagonist is Arthur Penhaligon. The series begins on a Monday, with the main events starting a week later on the next Monday. Each book moves onto the next day of the week, over the course of about three weeks in Earth time, concluding on a Sunday. Each day features beings, collectively known as the Trustees, who each govern a portion of the House, which is the center of the Universe. The Lower House, the Far Reaches, the Border Sea, the Great Maze, the Middle House, the Upper House, and the Incomparable Gardens. In the beginning of the first book, Arthur lives a relatively normal life as an adopted child in a large and caring family. An asthma attack on a Monday that should have killed him brings him into contact with Mister Monday, who rules the Lower House. He eventually finds his way to the Lower House himself, where he is to find the cure to a plague brought to his world by dog faced 'Fetchers'. By convenience, he is declared Heir to the Kingdom and given the Lesser Half of the First Key, which is shaped like the minute hand of a clock. Because of this Key's magical properties, Arthur is relieved of his asthma while in contact with the Key or in the House, and proceeds to a strange and dangerous set of adventures. As Arthur discovers, the Will of the Architect (creator of the House and the "Secondary Realms" that surround it) was not fulfilled as it should have been. Instead, it was broken into seven pieces by the Architect's Trustees, the self-named Morrow Days. The Will was forced to act on its own, and its First Part chooses Arthur to be the Heir to the Kingdom. It thus becomes Arthur's responsibility to recover each of the missing pieces of the Will, defeat each Trustee – each of whom has been afflicted with one of the seven deadly sins - claim their domains by taking each Key, and ultimately fulfill the Will. After Arthur has taken each of the seven keys, and the will becomes fulfilled, a huge wave of Nothing dissolves the Incomparable Gardens, Lord Sunday's domain, and the first thing the Architect created. This causes the whole of creation to be destroyed with it including all of the secondary realms (including Earth). Arthur regains consciousness in the void of Nothing (as he holds the power of all seven keys, he is unable to be destroyed unless he so wishes), and he meets the Architect, who is revealed to be the Old One and the Will, once split into two parts to govern the house and the secondary realms respectively. When the Architect and the Old One fell out, the Architect chained the Old One eternally. Doing this meant that she could not return to Nothing when she wished, as she had to go as one. The only way to release the Old One was to destroy creation. These terms were laid out in the will. In the void of Nothing, the Architect explains this and also explains how she has appointed Arthur as the New Architect. When the Architect finally lets Nothing destroy her, Arthur decides what to do as the New Architect. He uses the Com-pleat Atlas of the House, a magic book which contains all the information of the entire house, to rebuild the house, and the secondary realms exactly as it was a few seconds before its ultimate demise. Unfortunately, as it only "saved" the universe a few seconds before its end, only one tiny part of the house remained, containing only a few people. The Great Architect splits himself into two, one part himself and the other part Arthur, whom he lets go back to Earth. 

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Thornton Meloni, a child of Italian immigrants, returns from school one day to his father's tailor shop, bearing a report card with poor grades. His ambition is to go into his father's line of work, but his father warns Thornton "If a man has no education, he's got nothing". As decades pass, Thornton changes his last name to "Melon" and becomes a self-made corporate giant, with a successful chain of plus-size clothing stores and numerous other business ventures. Feeling dejected when his college student son Jason cancels a visit, he returns home to a party hosted by his wife Vanessa. Finally weary of Vanessa's nasty attitude and adultery, Thornton divorces her, and asks his bodyguard Lou to drive him to Jason's college campus. On the campus, Thornton learns from Jason that he's unhappy with college life. He is a towel boy for the diving team instead of a member, is antagonized by team member Chas Osborne, has no friends except for his roommate Derek Lutz, and intends to drop out. Thornton motivates him to stay in college by deciding to enroll alongside him. Despite Thornton's lack of academic qualifications, the dean David Martin admits him when he bribes Martin with a donation for a new campus building. Thornton's bribery earns him the wrath of Dr. Philip Barbay, dean of the business school. The wrath is further exacerbated by Thornton's attitude during Barbay's class and his romantic interest in the literature professor Dr. Diane Turner, whom Barbay is dating. Meanwhile, Jason begins to attract the interest of Valerie Desmond, a girl that Chas has been trying to impress. Jason's popularity on campus also increases thanks to his father's generosity and party-throwing. Jason even earns a spot on the diving team as well, after Thornton—a former diver himself—convinces the diving coach to reconsider him. As a student, even though Diane is inspiring a deeper appreciation of literature, Thornton prefers partying to studying. He hires a team of professionals to complete his assignments, including author Kurt Vonnegut to write a paper on Vonnegut for literature class. To Thornton's surprise, Diane gives the paper a failing grade for obviously not being his own work, and she becomes estranged by his partying behavior. Jason is also upset with Thornton for trivializing education, while mistakenly believing Thornton bribed the diving coach into accepting him on the team. In addition, Dr. Barbay accuses Thornton, in the presence of Dean Martin, of academic fraud, and challenges Thornton to pass an oral examination given by all of his professors, with Thornton to face expulsion if he fails any part of it. Believing he has no chance of passing, Thornton packs up and prepares to leave. But Jason stops Thornton and successfully encourages him to stay and prepare for the challenge. With limited time to prepare, Thornton crams for the examination with help from Jason, Derek, Lou, and Diane. When the big day comes, Barbay begins by intimidating Thornton with a single, 27-part question. Nevertheless, Thornton answers every part, though the effort was so much that he wants to forfeit. Diane inspires him to finish, and he does. At the championship dive meet that day, Thornton and Jason reconcile, while Jason's team takes the lead. To spite Jason for his performance and for winning over Valerie, Chas fakes a cramp in an attempt to make his team lose. The coach decides to recruit Thornton as a last-minute replacement, and Thornton helps the team win by performing the legendary "Triple Lindy" dive. Afterwards, Thornton learns from Diane that he has passed the examination with all D's, except for a single A from Diane. At the end of the school year, Thornton gives the commencement speech, advising the new graduates to move back in with their parents. 

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A seemingly anti-bourgeois group of adults spend their time seeking their "inner idiot" to release their inhibitions. They do so by behaving in public as if they were developmentally disabled. At a restaurant, the patrons are disturbed by the group's mischief, barely contained by their supposed "handler", Susanne; however, single diner Karen develops an appreciation of their antics. The members of the group refer to this behaviour as "spassing", a neologism derived from "spasser", the Danish equivalent of "spaz". Karen leaves in a taxi with the people from the restaurant, and she finds herself at a big house. The apparent leader of the group, Stoffer, is supposed to be selling the house (which belongs to his uncle), but instead it becomes the focal point for group activities. The "spassing" is a self-defeating attempt by the group to challenge the establishment through provocation. The self-styled idiots feel that the society-at-large treats their intelligence uncreatively and unchallengingly; thus, they seek the uninhibited self-expression that they imagine a romantic ideal of disability will allow. Stoffer, at his birthday party, wishes for a "gangbang", and both clothes and inhibitions are soon discarded. Then, when Stoffer calls for the group members to let idiocy invade their personal daily lives, Karen takes up the challenge. She takes Susanne back to her house, where they are greeted with surprise by Karen's mother. Karen has been missing for two weeks, following the death of her young baby; she offers no explanation of where she has been. Karen attempts to spaz in front of her family by dribbling the food she is eating, but this results in a violent slap from her husband, Anders. Karen and Susanne leave the house together. 

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Telly Paretta (Julianne Moore) believes that her son Sam (Christopher Kovaleski) died 14 months ago in a plane crash, but her husband Jim (Anthony Edwards) tells her that she's delusional and that they have never had a son. Her friend Eliot (Jessica Hecht) doesn't appear to believe in Sam's existence despite her closeness to him. Dr. Munce (Gary Sinise) tells her that Sam was merely a figment of her imagination and that she is just imagining a life that might have been. He recommends that she be sent to a hospital, but she runs away and meets with a man named Ash (Dominic West), who she thinks is the father of a girl named Lauren (Kathryn Faughnan), who was Sam's friend and died in the same crash. At first he dismisses her, claiming he never had a daughter, and calls the police. After she is taken into custody, he remembers his daughter and rescues Telly. Together they escape and go into hiding, pursued by National Security agents. Telly and Ash capture and threaten an agent (Lee Tergesen), who reluctantly reveals that he and other agents are merely helping ″them″ in order to protect humankind. Without warning, the roof of the house blows off and the agent, along with the roof, is sucked into the sky—presumably taken by "them"—and Telly and Ash flee. Eventually, Telly visits Dr. Munce again and he reveals that the disappearances are the work of "them", and that the government monitors their trials, all too aware that they have no power to stop "them" from doing whatever they want. Munce takes Telly to an airport and the dilapidated hangar of Quest Airlines, where he introduces her to an agent of "them" (Linus Roache). He tells the agent that it's over and to stop the experiment, because it will only cause more harm. But the agent replies that it's not over. He reveals to Telly that she has been a part of an experiment to test whether the bonds between mother and child can be diminished. In her case, her memories could not be fully erased. Telly refuses to deny her son's existence. The agent mentions that if he fails to erase her memory then he will look like a failure. The agent then subdues her and convinces her to think of the first memory she had of Sam. Telly thinks of the day he was born in the hospital, which allows the agent to successfully erase Sam's memory from existence. As the agent is walking away, thinking he's succeeded, Telly's motherly bond kicks in deeper, to before Sam was born, when she was pregnant, triggering her memory that she indeed had life in her at one time. All of her memories of Sam return. Before the agent can comprehend what's happening, part of the hangar roof is suddenly blown off, and he's yanked into the sky himself for his failure to erase her memory. This ends the experiment. Telly finds herself living a normal life, although she remembers everything that has happened. She reunites with Sam at a park. Also at the park is Ash, watching over his daughter. Like Sam, he has no memory of what has happened. Telly reintroduces herself, and the two sit and watch the kids play in the playground. 

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The protagonist of these stories is involved in the creation of a global computer network designed to give ultimate economic control by keeping track of all human activity. Just before the system goes live, the hero expresses his concerns about the possible misuse of such power to his superior, who gives the hero the chance to destroy his personal data before it is to be entered into the system. In taking this step the hero becomes non-existent as far as the system is concerned. Using backdoors in the central network, the hero is able to create identities for himself as needed. With this freedom he sets himself up as a freelance investigator and problem solver. 

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In 1903, following the dismal reception of his latest play, Little Mary, Barrie meets the widowed Sylvia and her four young sons (George, Jack, Peter and Michael) in Kensington Gardens, and a strong, close friendship develops among them. He proves to be a great playmate and surrogate father figure for the boys, and their imaginative antics give him ideas which he incorporates into a play about boys who do not want to grow up, especially one named after troubled young Peter Llewelyn Davies. Although Barrie sees this family as wonderful and inspirational, people question his relationship with the Llewelyn Davies family. Sylvia was a widow: her husband died from cancer and left her with four boys to bring up on her own. Barrie's wife Mary, who eventually divorces him, and Sylvia's mother Emma du Maurier, object to the amount of time Barrie spends with the Llewelyn Davies family. Emma also seeks to control her daughter and grandsons, especially as Sylvia becomes increasingly weak from an unidentified illness. Along the way, Barrie goes on adventures with Sylvia and her boys. He too is a boy at heart and spending time with the family is special. Barrie takes those adventures he has with the boys and makes them into a play called Peter Pan. Producer Charles Frohman skeptically agrees to mount Peter Pan, despite his belief that it holds no appeal for upper-class theatergoers. Barrie peppers the opening night audience with children from a nearby orphanage, and the adults present react to their infectious delight with an appreciation of their own. The play proves to be a huge success. Barrie is all set for his play, but when Peter arrives alone to the play, Barrie goes to Sylvia's house to check up on her, and misses the show. Peter attends the play and realises the play is about his brothers and Barrie. Sylvia is too ill to attend the premiere, so Barrie arranges to have an abridged production of it performed in her home. He gets the actors, props and musicians together in the Llewelyn Davies house. At the end of the play, Peter Pan points to the back doors and implies that Sylvia should go off to Neverland. She takes the hands of her boys and slowly walks out into Neverland. The living room and back garden transform into Neverland and Sylvia continues to walk on her own. In the next scene, everyone is at Sylvia's funeral. Barrie discovers that her will says that he and her mother should look after the boys, an arrangement agreeable to both. The film ends with J. M. Barrie finding Peter on the bench in the park where they first met after Peter ran off from the graveyard. Peter is holding his book where he wrote the plays that he ripped apart and that his mother glued back together for him. Barrie sits down and puts his arm around Peter to comfort him. They both fade, and all that is left is the bench. 

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Connie (Nia Vardalos) and Carla (Toni Collette) are two performers whose lifelong friendship and co-obsession with musical theater have brought nothing but career dead ends. Despite this they continue their optimism, hosting a variety act at an airport lounge. After accidentally witnessing a mafia hit in Chicago, they go on the run, landing in Los Angeles. After being fired from a beauty salon, they pose as drag queens and audition to host a drag revue at a gay club called "The Handlebar." Because they sing their own songs (a rarity for queens), they are hired, and their variety show (at first titled What a Drag (Pun Intended!) then later re-titled Connie and Carla and the Belles of the Balls after they add a few friends to the act) becomes a hit. Things are going smoothly but the two make a pact not to let men interfere with their life. This causes conflict when Connie falls for Jeff (David Duchovny), the straight brother of Robert (Stephen Spinella), one of their drag queen friends. As the show gets bigger, the two convince the club owner, Stanley (Ian Gomez), to convert it into a full dinner theater, and eventually their popularity threatens to expose them. On the official opening night of the dinner theater, the mob killers catch up with them. But with the help of their drag queen friends, and to great applause from the audience (who think it is part of their act), Connie and Carla take them down. They ultimately confess their real identities to the audience and are accepted for who they are. Connie reveals herself to Jeff, who arrives after the chaos. He accepts her and becomes her boyfriend. 

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The town of Garrison, New Jersey, is home to several NYPD officers, led by Lt. Ray Donlan along with Jack Rucker, Gary Figgis, and Joey Randone, who is cheating on his wife Liz with Donlan's wife Rose. Freddy Heflin, the town sheriff, idolizes the NYPD and once hoped to become an officer. He cannot because he is deaf in one ear, the result of rescuing a drowning woman many years earlier. Heflin is aware that Garrison's NYPD community is involved in police corruption and racial profiling, but generally turns a blind eye as they do not recognize his authority.Internal Affairs investigator Lt. Moe Tilden approaches Heflin for information on the corrupt cops, but Heflin is intimidated and reluctant to betray them. One night, Donlan's nephew, Officer Murray Babitch, is driving across the George Washington Bridge when his car is side-swiped by two African-American teens. The passenger points what looks like a weapon just before Babitch's tire blows out. Believing they have fired at him, Babitch shoots back and kills the teens in the ensuing chase. Rucker removes the steering-wheel lock that Babitch mistook for a weapon from the scene and is caught trying to plant a gun in the car. Worried about the repercussions to his own career, Donlan persuades Babitch to fake his own suicide. In the meantime, Liz visits Heflin at home. It was Liz whom Heflin saved from drowning years ago. While Liz and Freddy confess feelings for each other, she reluctantly leaves before things go too far. Meanwhile, Babitch lives as a fugitive at Donlan's home. But Vincent Lassaro, president of the Patrolmen's Defense Association, tells Donlan that without a body, the case will not stay cold. Donlan reluctantly realizes they have to drown Babitch. Tipped off by his aunt Rose, Babitch escapes and goes to Heflin's house for help, but flees when he sees Figgis. That same evening, on-duty Randone is in trouble. Donlan is the first back-up cop to arrive at the scene, but deliberately delays in revenge for Randone's affair with Donlan's wife. Randone falls to his death. Realizing the deaths are orchestrated, Heflin visits Tilden. His investigation has been shut down and he angrily dismisses Heflin's effort. On his way out, Heflin steals case files on the Garrison cops and, reading them, realizes the extent of his residents' corruption. Heflin returns home to find Figgis packing to leave, discovering that Figgis had burned down his own house for the insurance money, and inadvertently killed his drug-addicted girlfriend. Heflin convinces Rose to reveal Babitch's hide-out and takes him into custody. Donlan's team ambush them and fire a pistol next to Heflin's good ear, deafening him, and kidnap Babitch. On foot and almost totally deaf, Heflin follows them to Donlan's house, where he is joined by Figgis, and a shootout begins. Donlan, Rucker, and the rest of Donlan's team are killed. Heflin and Figgis take Babitch to New York City and hand him over to Tilden. After the scandal has been investigated and indictments handed down, Heflin surveys the New York skyline from across the Hudson River and goes back to work. 

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The film centers around Wah (阿華, played by Andy Lau), a mob enforcer who primarily deals with debt collection. His sai lo subordinate, Fly (烏蠅, played by Jacky Cheung) also works for the mob, but is less successful and not as well respected as Wah, frequently causing trouble and borrowing money he can't pay back. Out of the blue, Wah receives a call from his aunt, informing him that his younger cousin Ngor (阿娥, played by Maggie Cheung), whom he has never met before, will be coming to stay with him in Hong Kong for the next few days. Ngor works at her family's restaurant on Lantau Island, but due to a malfunctioning lung, must come to Hong Kong for a medical procedure. Soon after Ngor arrives at his apartment, Wah unexpectedly leaves to help Fly collect a debt. After the job, Wah goes to see his girlfriend, Mabel, who dumps him because he had been so distant and unresponsive to her calls. Due to this, she aborted his baby, though he was unaware she was pregnant in the first place. Wah stumbles home angry and drunk, but when Ngor tries to console him later that night, he becomes very aggressive and threatens to throw her out. The next morning, Wah apologizes to Ngor and offers to take her to out to a movie to make up for his behavior. Meanwhile, in order to make money to pay off a loan to fellow gang member Tony (Alex Man), Fly makes an unreasonably high bet in a game of snooker. When he realizes there is no chance he can win or pay his debt, he makes a run for it with his friend Site (阿西, Wong). After a chase through the streets, Fly and Site are caught and severely beat by members of Tony's gang. As Wah and Ngor are about to leave the apartment, Fly arrives bruised and bloody, carrying an unconscious Site. Wah and Ngor treat their wounds, which causes Ngor to question Wah's line of work. The next day, she returns to Lantau, leaving Wah a note asking him to come visit her sometime. Wah meets with Tony to settle his debt with Fly. Tony says to Wah that if Fly wasn't his sai lo, he would already be dead. Unable to pay the debt interest, Wah steals the money from the owner of the establishment Tony was hired to protect instead. Insulted by Wah's behavior, Tony takes his grievance to Uncle Kwan (阿公), the mob boss. Kwan solves the argument by forcing Tony and Wah to accept a monthly payment compromise. Afterwards, Kwan tells Wah to get Fly under control before he gets himself killed. Accepting that Fly is not cut out for mob work, Wah gets him a legitimate job selling fishballs from a food cart. Fly hates his new job, but continues to work to please his dai lo. One day, Tony approaches Fly and insults him and his lowly profession. In retaliation, Fly wrecks Tony's car with a hammer and a propane tank, but Tony's gang promptly catches him and beats him near to death. Meanwhile, Wah decides to visit Ngor. After arriving at her family's restaurant on Lantau, he learns that she was in Hong Kong for the day and will return that evening. Wah meets Ngor at the ferry terminal, but learns that she has begun seeing her doctor. They part ways and Wah, disheartened, boards the ferry back to Hong Kong. Realizing she made a mistake pushing him away, Ngor calls him asking to meet her back at the ferry terminal. Wah promptly returns to Lantau and they share a passionate kiss in a phone booth. Over the next couple of days, Wah helps out at the restaurant and the two continue to learn more about each other. Wah has to cut his visit short after receiving a call from Tony, who demands money in exchange for Fly's life. After arriving at Tony's place, Wah surprises Tony by pulling a gun and forcing the barrel down his pants, threatening to blow apart Tony's penis and testicles. Tony gives into Wah's demands and lets Fly go. Wah and Fly convene in a bar and Wah urges Fly to return to his family in the countryside, an order which Fly refuses out of shame. Exiting the bar, they are cornered by Tony and his gang. Both Fly and Wah are severely beaten by the gang, but Tony lets them live. Fly leaves Wah, telling Wah to forget him because he has been a terrible sai lo. Too weak to pursue Fly, Wah manages to return to Lantau, where Ngor and her doctor treat his wounds. He recovers, and the two rekindle their love for each other. Back in Hong Kong, Uncle Kwan gives Tony a job to assassinate an informant while he is being transported to court by the police. Tony is too afraid to do it, since it is essentially a suicide mission. Fly offers to take the job in order to earn the respect of the gang and humiliate Tony, whose thugs abandon him in disgust. Having received word that Fly has taken the job, Wah returns to confront Fly. His attempts to persuade Fly otherwise are in vain, and Fly manages to elude Wah while he is not looking. Wah arrives at the police station just as Fly is about to carry out the assassination. Fly pulls a gun and shoots the informant, but fails to kill him. Instead, he is shot and killed by the police. In response, Wah grabs Fly's gun and kills the informant, finishing the job. As Wah is gunned down, he thinks of his first kiss with Ngor. 

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At the beginning of the series, Richard Sharpe (Sean Bean) is a sergeant in the 95th Rifles serving in Portugal during the Peninsular War in 1809. When he single-handedly saves the life of General Sir Arthur Wellesley (David Troughton in the first two films, Hugh Fraser thereafter) from a group of French cavalrymen, Wellesley gives Sharpe a battlefield commission, appointing him a lieutenant. Sharpe is placed in charge of a detachment of the 95th Rifles: The term used for his men, 'chosen men', reflected acknowledgement of the men's rifle marksmanship performance rather than rank; it granted some privileges, such as avoiding certain routine duties. Patrick Harper (Daragh O'Malley) eventually becomes his best friend and is promoted to sergeant and later sergeant major. Wellesley and his various spymasters, first Major Michael Hogan (Brian Cox), followed by Major Nairn (Michael Byrne), Major Mungo Monroe (Hugh Ross) and Major General Ross (James Laurenson), find Sharpe to be an extremely capable and cunning officer and give him progressively more important tasks. Despite their backing, he has to fight against the strong prejudice of aristocrats (who often owe their army positions to money and social connections rather than military skill) against an uncouth commoner raised from the ranks. He makes a number of dangerous enemies, such as French Major Pierre Ducos (Féodor Atkine) and Colonel Sir Henry Simmerson (Michael Cochrane), and encounters one from his prior service in India, Sergeant Obadiah Hakeswill (Pete Postlethwaite). Sharpe's successes gain him steady promotion, and by the end of the Napoleonic Wars, at the Battle of Waterloo, he is Lieutenant-Colonel Sharpe. Along the way, Sharpe has a number of romances. He marries the Spanish guerrilla leader Teresa Moreno (Assumpta Serna), with whom he has a daughter. Teresa is killed by Hakeswill. Sharpe then marries Jane Gibbons (Abigail Cruttenden, Bean's real-life wife for less than three years), who deserts him, steals his hard-earned money, and takes a lover. He finally settles down with Lucille Castineau (Cécile Paoli), a Frenchwoman who passes away some time after Napoleon's final defeat. (However, according to the Starbuck Chronicles, another series of Cornwell books, she outlives Sharpe.) 

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Emily Ann Faulkner is born into poverty in The South, has no father, no friends, and is unloved by her indifferent mother, who does not want to be tied down by a child. When Emily Ann becomes a teenager, she remains a loner, but has a sensual sexuality that attracts boys. She marries young, but leaves her first husband, a world-weary GI, John Tower, for Hollywood. She becomes an actress and is soon transformed by Hollywood into the glamorous superstar sex goddess, Rita Shawn. Though she has attained fame and wealth, she is still a loner in the depths of despair. When her elderly mother, who has turned from immorality to religion bordering on fanaticism, comes to visit, Rita is thrilled and clings to her. She tries to impress her and has a couple in to visit. As the guests are leaving, Rita's mother thanks them for being such good friends to her daughter. She is told that they do not really know her daughter, having just met her. Rita wants her mother to stay on, but Mrs. Faulkner insists on going home. When she is leaving the house, Rita becomes enraged and screams from the doorway that she hates her and wishes her dead. When her mother dies, Rita is heavily sedated and miserable at the funeral. She now lives under the constant attention of a stern secretary/nurse Harding, who takes control of the self-destructive actress. 

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The novel is set in the fictional Swiss village of Karlstein in 1816. The evil Count Karlstein made a deal with Zamiel, the Demon Huntsman, in order to obtain his current wealth. The condition of the deal was that in ten years' time the huntsman will be presented with a human sacrifice on All Souls' Eve. The count has decided to offer his two young nieces, Lucy and Charlotte. His plan does not go as smoothly as he would have preferred. Hildi Kelmar, a castle maidservant, overhears his plan to sacrifice Lucy and Charlotte and tries to save them. The narrative shifts between the perspectives of a panoply of characters, including Hildi, Lucy, Charlotte, the girls' former teacher Miss Augusta Davenport, the inept coachman Max Grindoff, and a police report. Other characters that come to the aid of the girls, willingly or not, are Meister Haifisch, the Count's lawyer; Doctor Cadaverezzi, a fraudulent magician employing Max as an assistant, who takes Lucy in as a part of his act; Eliza, Miss Davenport's helper and Max's lover; Hildi's mother, a tavern owner; and Hildi's brother, Peter, a huntsman hiding from the law. After hiding the girls, avoiding the Count and his cronies (Arturo Snivelwurst, his cowardly manservant, and Frau Muller, the castle's head servant), and helping several other people, Hildi has no choice but to send her fugitive brother, armed with a single silver bullet, to rescue the girls from the distant hunting cabin. He uses the bullet before encountering Zamiel, but the Demon Huntsman spares the hunter and those he protects, taking the life of Karlstein instead. The following day, Peter wins a shooting contest and the title of Chief Ranger of the Forest, securing his freedom. Meister Haifisch arrives and announces that the true Count Karlstein is in fact the orphaned Max, who weds Eliza and raises Lucy and Charlotte. Finally, Miss Augusta and Doctor Cadaverezzi (who is known as Signor Rolipolio), old lovers, reunite. 

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The hitherto virtuous Lady Brute is provoked to infidelity by her sour husband Sir John Brute. Married in haste – she for money, he for sex – the Brutes are shackled by wedlock but looking for diversions. He goes off for a drunken night on the town and ends up before a magistrate, disguised in his wife's frock. Meanwhile, Lady Brute and her niece Belinda dress as Shepherd Market doxies for a secret tryst with their suitors Heartfree and Constant and are spied on by the envious Lady Fanciful, who wants Heartfree for herself. Belinda, despite interference from Lady Fanciful, wins her man and marries for love. But it ends sadly for the boozy Brute who attempts to rape his wife, discovers two gallants lurking in his wardrobe and finally ends up accepting certain situations rather than becoming a human pincushion (i.e., fighting a duel to satisfy his honor). 

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The fantasy setting of The Magic of Scheherazade borrows from Middle Eastern folk tales in One Thousand and One Nights. Many years prior to the opening of the game, the land of Arabia was taken over by the malevolent demon Goragora and his army of minions. A magician named Isfa, harnessing the power of the blue star Airosche, vanquished the demons and sealed them underground. Peace briefly returned until the evil wizard Sabaron freed Goragora and the demons from their captivity and imprisoned the Arabian princess Scheherazade and her family. The player takes on the role of Isfa's unnamed descendant, who unsuccessfully attempts to save his lover Scheherazade from Sabaron. As a result, the player character's memories are erased, his magical powers are sealed, and he is thrust into a different time period. He is quickly greeted by the cat-like spirit Coronya, who possesses the ability to open a passage to travel through time. With this, the amnesic hero is able to traverse five worlds in order to regain his memories, learn new magic, recruit several allies, and defeat the demon overlords. Once Scheherazade's three sisters and father are rescued, the protagonist confronts Sabaron, who realizes releasing Goragora was a mistake. The hero then goes to the Dark World and destroys Goragora, returning tranquility to Arabia once again. After being thanked by Scheherazade and her family, the hero promises to return to his beloved someday as he and his party depart on a magic carpet toward their next adventure. 

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The story takes place outside a small village in Provence, France, shortly after the First World War. Ugolin Soubeyran returns from his military service and throws himself into a project to grow carnations on his property up in the mountains. His uncle César, referred to as Le Papet, meaning grandfather in the local dialect, is at first skeptical, but is convinced when the flowers get a good price at the market. They decide the project is worthy of expansion, and together they go to see the neighboring farmer, Pique-Bouffigue, to buy his land. The land in question is apparently dry, but Papet knows of a spring that could solve that problem. Pique-Bouffigue does not want to sell, and an altercation breaks out. In the fight, Pique-Bouffigue is knocked dead. After the funeral, Papet and Ugolin plug the spring that could water the land and cover it with cement and earth. Unknown to them, they are seen blocking the spring by a poacher. The property is inherited by Pique-Bouffigue's sister, Florette, but she dies very soon afterward and the property goes to her son, Jean Cadoret, who is a tax collector and a hunchback. Ugolin, according to local custom, refers to him as Jean de Florette. To discourage Jean from taking up residence, Ugolin damages the roof of the house. Jean arrives with his wife, Aimée, and young daughter, Manon. He makes it clear that he has no intention of selling. He intends to make the farm profitable within two years, breeding rabbits and growing their feed himself. Jean does not know about the nearby blocked spring, only of one that is more distant, 2 kilometres away, though still on the property. He is relying on rainfall to fill a cistern to supply the livestock and irrigate the crops. Ugolin and Papet keep secret from Jean the fact that the specific area where Jean's farm lies rarely gets any rain. Meanwhile, they work to turn the local community against Jean, because the deceased Pique-Bouffigue has cousins in the village who know about the blocked spring and would tell Jean about it if they became friendly with him. Jean initially makes progress and earns a small profit from his rabbit farm. In the long run, however, getting water proves a problem. Dragging it all the way from the distant spring becomes a backbreaking task. Jean asks to borrow Ugolin's mule, but Ugolin gives vague excuses. When the rain does come, it falls on the surrounding area but not where it is needed. The dusty winds of the sirocco then arrive, bringing the farm to near-catastrophe. Jean decides to dig a well. Ugolin tells Jean that his project is hopeless and that he might be better off selling. Jean asks how much he could expect to receive for the farm, and Ugolin gives an estimate of around 8,000 francs. However, it turns out that Jean has no intention of selling, but wants to use the value of the property to take out a mortgage. Papet decides that he will himself grant the mortgage, because that way he will either earn the interest or drive Jean away for good. From the mortgage money Jean buys dynamite to finish the well, but in his first blast is hit by a flying rock, falls into the cavity, and subsequently dies of his injuries. Ugolin returns with the news to Papet, who asks him why he's crying. "It is not me who's crying," he responds, "it's my eyes." Aimée and Manon cannot remain on the farm, and Papet buys them out. As mother and daughter are packing their belongings, Papet and Ugolin go to where they blocked the spring and remove the plug. Manon follows them, and when she sees what they are doing, understands and screams. The men hear it, but dismiss the sound as that of a buzzard. Papet performs a mock baptism of his nephew in the water of the spring. 

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Following the events of Jean de Florette, Manon, the daughter of Jean, is living in the countryside of Provence near Les Romarins, the farm that her father once owned. She has taken up residence with an elderly Piedmontese squatter couple who teach her to live off the land, tending to a herd of goats and hunting for birds and rabbits. Ugolin Soubeyran, also called Galinette (only by his uncle César), has begun a successful business growing carnations at Les Romarins with his uncle, César Soubeyran—also known as Papet—thanks to the water provided by the spring there. After seeing her bathe nude in the mountains, Ugolin develops an interest in Manon. When he approaches her, she seems disgusted by his vileness and almost certainly by the memory of his involvement in her father's downfall. But Ugolin's interest in Manon becomes obsessive, culminating in sewing a ribbon from her hair onto his chest. At the same time, Manon becomes interested in Bernard, a handsome and educated schoolteacher recently arrived in the village. As a small child, Manon had suffered the loss of her father, who died from a blow to the head while using explosives in an attempt to find a water source. César and Ugolin then bought the farm cheaply from his widow—Manon's mother—and unblocked the spring. Manon witnessed this as a child. The two men profited directly from his death. When she overhears two villagers talking about it, Manon realises that many in the village knew of the crime but had remained silent, for the Soubeyran family was locally important. While searching for a goat that fell into a crevice above the village, Manon finds the underground source of the spring that supplies water to the local farms and village. To take her revenge on both the Soubeyrans and the villagers, who knew but did nothing, she stops the flow of water using the iron-oxide clay and rocks found nearby. The villagers quickly become desperate for water to feed their crops and run their businesses. They come to believe that the water flow had been stopped by some Providence to punish the injustice committed against Jean. Manon publicly accuses César and Ugolin, and the villagers admit their own complicity in the persecution of Jean. They had never accepted him, as he was an outsider and was physically deformed. César tries to evade the accusations, but an eyewitness, a poacher who was trespassing on the vacant property at the time, steps forward to confirm the crime, shaming both César and Ugolin. Ugolin makes a desperate attempt to ask Manon for her hand in marriage, but she rejects him. The Soubeyrans flee in disgrace. Rejected by Manon, Ugolin commits suicide by hanging himself from a tree, apparently ending the Soubeyran line. The villagers appeal to Manon to take part in a religious procession to the village's fountain, hoping that acknowledging the injustice will restore the flow of water to the village. With the assistance of Bernard, Manon unblocks the spring in advance, and the water arrives at the village at the moment that the procession reaches the fountain. Manon marries Bernard. Meanwhile, César has been broken by his nephew's suicide. Delphine, an old acquaintance of his, returns to the village and tells him that Florette, his sweetheart from that period, had written to him to tell him she was carrying their child. Receiving no reply from him, she had tried to abort it. Florette left the village, married a blacksmith from nearby Créspin, and the child was born alive but a hunchback. César, away on military service in Africa, never received her letter and did not know that she had given birth to his child. In a cruel twist of fate, Jean, the man he drove to desperation and death without having met him, was the son he had always wanted. Realizing now she is related to him, César sadly watches a pregnant Manon hurry home at night, wishing to reconcile with his only grandchild, but knowing it will never happen. Devastated, and lacking the will to live any longer, César dies quietly in his sleep. In a letter he leaves his property to Manon, whom he recognises as his natural granddaughter and the last of the Soubeyrans. 

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Han Sing, a skilled martial artist and former police officer imprisoned in Hong Kong, learns that his brother Po has been found dead in Oakland, California. Han escapes and travels to America to investigate. There, his father and Triad boss Ch'u Sing is engaged in a joint business venture with Isaak O'Day, a black real estate developer and gang leader. The two have been acquiring properties along the waterfront to sell them to Vincent Roth, a businessman who plans to buy a new NFL franchise and build a stadium on the waterfront. Despite Ch'u's assurances that the deal is still in place, Isaak fears retribution following Po's death, and has his chief lieutenant Mac place security details on both of his children. Making his way to Oakland, Han learns that his brother called Isaak's daughter Trish's record store the day before he was killed. Han assumes the identity of a cab driver and delivery man named Akbar. After a chance encounter, Han befriends Trish by helping her ditch her assigned security, and Trish deduces that Po was actually calling her brother, Colin. At his brother's funeral, Han confronts his estranged father, blaming him for failing to keep his promise to protect Po after Han had helped them both flee to America to escape the Chinese authorities. Kai informs Han that the waterfront properties are divided between Black and Chinese businesses, and Po was a casualty of racial tensions that have recently escalated into a gang war. Meanwhile, Colin tells his father that Po's aborted meeting was to discuss information Po had that could end the gang war. Isaak explains that the deal with Roth will get their family out of the crime business for good, but warns Colin to be cautious. That night, someone kills Colin and his girlfriend by throwing them out of his high rise apartment. As Han comforts Trish, he learns that Po wanted to show Colin a list of businesses that were either destroyed or being threatened for failing to sell their properties. The two visit one of the remaining businesses on Po's list but the Chinese owner and his employees have been killed. After killing the Chinese hitmen, Han questions his father, who clumsily deflects suspicion by suggesting Isaak may have used outside contractors. Trish and Han visit the last holdout on Po's list: Silk's nightclub. Mac interrupts their meeting to kill Silk and take his property deed, then abducts Trish and Han. At a remote location, Han escapes by overpowering Mac's henchmen and forces Maurice to divulge where Trish was taken. Meanwhile, Ch’u has his fellow crime lords killed to sell their properties and keep the money to himself. Isaak and Ch’u meet with Roth at the Oakland Men's Club to sell Roth the deeds for the properties they now control. After Ch’u takes a multimillion-dollar payment and departs, Isaak refuses his payment, stating that his compensation will be in the form of an ownership share of the new franchise. An enraged Mac has Trish brought out as a hostage to force him to take the payout. He reveals to Isaak that the "gang war" was a ruse he and Ch'u concocted to cover their murder and intimidation of businessmen who refused to sign away their properties, and he also killed Colin. Isaak attacks him in a rage and Mac shoots him. Roth flees to the rooftop and escapes via helicopter but Mac shoots Roth's briefcase out of his hand, sending the deeds flying to the winds. Isaak shoots the henchman holding Trish, while Han arrives and confronts Mac about his brother. Mac reveals that it was Ch'u's right-hand man Kai who killed Po, and is about to shoot Han when Trish shoots and kills Mac first. Han and Isaak have a friendly introduction, then Trish waits with her father for an ambulance while Han leaves to confront Kai. At the Sing compound, Kai and Han have an all-out fight. Kai burns Han's hands with hot coals but Han rips his shirt to improvise hand wraps, then finishes Kai by landing a kick on Kai's skull, completely breaking his spine. He confronts Ch'u over callously having his own son killed for no other reason than getting in the way of his business deal. With Kai dead, there is no one to protect Ch'u from answering for his crimes to either the American authorities or the other crime families. It is revealed that Han was originally in prison for this reason. As Han walks away, his father picks up his gun and commits suicide. Han finds Trish waiting for him outside and the two walk away from the house together. 

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Background Story A dramatic wave of terrorist attacks sweeps Europe and Southeast Asia, particularly targeting US and UK interests. After months of intense searching, US intelligence has tracked the source of the attacks to the tiny fictional nation of Zekistan. U.S.-led operations in Iraq and Afghanistan have forced rebels and loyalists to flee, seeking refuge in the nation of Zekistan by invitation of the nation's dictator, Mohammad Jabbour Al-Afad. His tyrannical regime houses death camps and training centers for the terrorist networks, and promotes cleansing of the ethnic Zeki population. After several failed diplomatic solutions and repeated warning by the UN, NATO votes to invade Zekistan to remove Al-Afad from power. Pakistan grants US access through its airspace, the invasion begins. The and launch aircraft to airstrike Al-Afad's air, armor, and bases across the nation. When the dust settles, infantry and armor from seven different NATO countries begin to land at southern Zekistan. Under the cover of darkness, the U.S.-led forces converge on the capital city of Zafarra. Campaign Storyline The story starts at the MOUT (if the player chooses to play the tutorial) in Fort Benning, as fireteams Alpha and Bravo of squad Charlie 90, B Company, 159th Light Infantry goes through the training at Fort Benning, Georgia as they prepare for their deployment to Zekistan as part of the NATO Invasion force sent to invade the country. When they arrived Zekistan, their first objective is to help secure the airfield, the main airport in the city, however, the route to the airport is crawling with resistance; the first few hours after they arrived, they were ambushed. After the Airport is successfully captured, Charlie 90 is tasked with infiltrating Al-Afad's palace and eliminating him. They trek through the city and make it to the palace. While they manage to capture one of Afad's top lieutenants, Afad escapes. The members of Charlie 90 also witness one of the Joint STARS planes crashing into the city. The squad is then ordered to rescue the crew of the downed plane before they can be captured by Afad's men. Charlie 90 secures the crash site, but the crew of the plane is taken hostage by Afad's men. Charlie 90, with the assistance of two Ranger snipers, finds and rescues the crew. Charlie 90 then track Afad down and find his SUV in an old train yard. Charlie 90 must then call in an airstrike on the SUV before it escapes. If the player orders the strike in time, U.S. gunships swoop down and destroy the SUV, eliminating Al- Afad. Epilogue Missions Despite the death of Al-Afad, propaganda broadcasts were made by a surviving group of Al-Afad soldiers called the Black Wind Brigade, headed by one of Al- Afad's sons Al-Hamal. As a way of repaying the Army Rangers from Mike 25 a debt for saving them in a parking lot, both Alpha and Bravo team from Charlie 90 were "on loan" to them to participate in unofficial assignments. In the first mission, both teams were to mark a radio tower for an airstrike to end the propaganda broadcasts. On the second epilogue mission, both fireteams, with assistance from Staff Sergeant Hackett, were sent to a mosque to take out the Black Wind Brigade. Although Al-Hamal is killed by an airstrike during a firefight, the younger brother, Colonel Samir who was presumed to be dead assumes the role as ruler, willing to work towards democracy and stray away from his father and brother's tyrannical regime. 

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22 years ago, a huge alien artifact is found on a construction site by a worker named Yotsuga. The foreman orders that the artifact be broken apart to avoid delays. As Yotsuga walks towards the dumpsters to dispose of a small piece of the artifact, the world splits into two. In one world, Yotsuga tosses away the piece and the artifact is destroyed. In the other world, Yotsuga keeps the artifact, leading to the discovery of extraterrestrial technology that changes history. In the present, Kazuki Yotsuga is a high school student who is shunned by other students as an otaku; his web site describes battles between giant robots that only he can see, but it is mostly as a result of him being occasionally seen by the other students reacting to their "presence". One day, the most popular girl in school, Mitsuki Sanada, approaches him to tell him that she likes his stories. This is only a ruse; she lures him to her father, Dr. Ken Sanada, who wishes to study Kazuki for his research on parallel worlds. After being thrown into the other possible world by Dr. Sanada's device (thanks to a careless action by Mitsuki), Kazuki finds himself still in Dr. Sanada's basement, but everything is covered with cobwebs. Kazuki goes home, is distracted by a real battle between two giant robots, one white and the other black. The white robot is knocked down and an injured female figure emerges from inside. When Kazuki goes to her aid, he is trapped inside the robot and somehow manages to activate it and defeat the enemy robot. Afterwards, Kazuki reaches his home, but his parents no longer recognize him. He is found by Mitsuki, who has followed him. Along with a military escort, she takes him to the Earth Defense Force HQ, a paramilitary operation led by this world's Dr. Sanada. After Kazuki learns of this world's situation and the attempted conquest of this world by this world's Dr. Rara (Dr. Sanada's arch-rival) who is using technology developed from the artifact, he volunteers to become a giant robot pilot. Over the course of the series, Kazuki manages to attract several very different women without even trying, and he becomes a hero. He is later taken prisoner by Dr. Rara, the father of this world's Mitsuki. Mitsuki Rara eventually defects and comes to live with Kazuki and her counterpart. Later on, a new type of robot made from the artifact is deployed that can cause objects and people to be shifted between the alternate worlds. During the battle against it, Kazuki and Mitsuki Sanada are sent back to their original world, and they discover their world's Dr. Sanada covered up their disappearance by claiming that they had eloped. As it turns out, the frequent travel between worlds is taking a toll on the universe itself as the barriers separating them begin to break down; this will eventually lead to both worlds vanishing. A decision must be made; since Kazuki and the alien technology are exclusive to each world, one must be eliminated to halt the destruction. The robots are destroyed, and the worlds combine into one, an expression of Kazuki's wish for all his (girl)friends to continue to stay together with him (even though the action is again caused by Mitsuki's carelessness). Masaki Kajishima, confirmed that DUAL! is in fact set in the distant past of the Tenchi Muyo! universe.https://www.cbr.com/tenchi-muyo-multiverse-facts/ 

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Cheng Chao- an (Pronounced "Cheng Chow-On") (Bruce Lee) is a Chinese man who moves to Pak Chong, Thailand, to live with his adopted family and to work in an ice factory. He meets his cousins Hsu Chien (Pronounced "Shu Sheng") (James Tien) and Hsu's younger brother by accident when Hsu Chien stands up to local street thugs who steal dumplings from Hsu's brother. Cheng refrains from getting involved despite being tempted to, as he swore to his mother to never participate in any fighting. He wears a jade amulet around his neck as a reassurance of his pledge. Cheng begins his work at the ice factory. When an ice block is accidentally broken, a bag of white powdery drugs falls out. Two of Cheng's cousins pick up the bag and are told to see the manager later that night. The factory is actually a front for a drug smuggling ring led by Hsiao Mi (a.k.a. the Big Boss). When Cheng's cousins refuse to join them, the manager sends his thugs to kill them and dispose of their bodies, thereby stopping the cat from getting out of the bag and restricting any of those to know. Hsu Chien and Ah Pei, another one of Cheng's cousins, go to Hsiao Mi's Mansion to find out what happened to the two cousins. Hsu doubts Hsiao's claims that he doesn't know anything and threatens to go to the police. Hsiao sets his gang on the duo as a result, and after a brutal battle, they are both killed with their bodies hidden as to keep the boss's crime operations a secret. When the Chinese workers at the ice factory learn that Hsu is missing as well, they start a riot against the Thai management, which leads to a brawl with the hired thugs, who come in a red bus mid-fight. During the chaos, one of the thugs accidentally rips off and breaks Cheng's amulet. Enraged, Cheng jumps into the brawl and beats some of the thugs, causing them to flee immediately. To reduce tensions, the ice factory manager makes Cheng a foreman, inviting him to a dinner that night. This later causes much unease for Cheng's family and friends, who believe that Cheng is growing arrogant and spending more time reveling in his new position than helping to look for their brothers. They grow to resent him, all except Chiao Mei, his Sister, who stands up for him. Cheng gets drunk at the dinner party and is seduced by Sun Wu Man (played by Marilyn Bautista), a prostitute who attended the dinner. She later warns Cheng that his life is in danger and reveals that Hsiao Mi is running a drug trafficking operation. Immediately after Cheng leaves, Hsiao's son, Hsiao Chiun, sneaks in and kills Sun by throwing a knife at her heart from behind. Cheng breaks into the factory and first finds the drugs before discovering a hand, the head of Sun, and the head of Hsu Chien with a horrified face in the ice blocks. He is surrounded by Hsiao Chiun and a group of his men. Cheng fights his way out, killing Hsiao Chiun and his gang in the process. (The notorious "saw in the head" shot took place in this fight, but was cut by the Hong Kong censors before the film went on general release.) He returns home to find that his remaining family members have been murdered, while Chiao Mei has gone missing. Mourning his loss by a river, he vows to exact his revenge at all costs, even if it means breaking his oath of non- violence. Cheng subsequently storms Hsiao Mi's mansion to fight him and his men. Meanwhile, one of Hsiao Mi's disgruntled slaves frees Chiao Mei, who was being held hostage by Hsiao Mi in a cramped room used as a prison cell. She runs away to get help from the Thai police. Cheng finally kills Hsiao Mi after a fierce fight, by deflecting the knife Mi throws it at him with his shoe. Once he knows that Chiao Mei is safe (as she came running along with the police division), he surrenders to the police when they arrive at the mansion, and is arrested. The movie ends as the crowd walks back to the police car to leave the mansion. 

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The original plot involves Lee playing the role of Hai Tien (海天), a retired champion martial artist who is confronted by Korean underworld gangs. They tell him the story of a pagoda where guns are prohibited, and under heavy guard by highly skilled martial artists who are protecting something (which is not identified at all in any surviving material) held on its top level. The gang boss wants Hai to be a part of a group whose purpose is to retrieve said item. They would be the second group to try to do so as the first attempt with a previous group had failed. When Hai refuses, his younger sister and brother are kidnapped, forcing him to participate. Hai, as well as four other martial artists (two of whom were played by James Tien and Chieh Yuan), then fight their way up a five-level pagoda, encountering a different challenge on each floor. The setting of the pagoda was at Beopjusa temple in Songnisan National Park in South Korea. The pagoda, called Palsang-jon, is the only remaining wooden pagoda in South Korea. At the base of the pagoda they fight 10 people, all black belts in Karate. While inside the pagoda, they encounter a different opponent on each floor, each more challenging than the last. Although his allies try to help out, they are handily defeated, and Hai must face each of the martial artists in one-on-one combat. In the unfilmed portion of their mission, Lee's group were to defeat Korean Hapkido master Hwang In-Shik, playing a kicking master, then a Praying mantis style kung fu master, played by Taky Kimura. He then defeats Filipino Eskrima master Dan Inosanto, Korean Hapkido master Ji Han-jae, and finally Kareem Abdul-Jabbar, who fights with a free and fluid style mirroring Lee's Jeet Kune Do. Because Abdul-Jabbar's character has great size and strength in addition to a fighting style as potent as Lee's, he can only be defeated once Hai recognises that an unusually high sensitivity to light is his greatest weakness.Little, John. Bruce Lee: A Warrior's Journey (book). McGraw-Hill. Immediately after defeating the giant guardian, Hai turns around and descends the staircase, heading out of the pagoda. Despite all the talk of something awaiting up top of the (now unguarded) flight of stairs, there is no mention of anyone going up to retrieve it. No surviving material explains how this will affect Hai or his captive siblings.Game Over! by Joe Kenney Cityonfire.com January 1, 2011, JJ Bona 

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The 1978 version uses portions of the original footage married to an entirely new plot involving a new character, Billy Lo (盧比利), struggling against a racketeering "syndicate" after gaining international success as a martial arts movie star. When Billy refuses to be intimidated by syndicate henchman Steiner (Hugh O'Brian) and his gangs of thugs, syndicate owner Dr. Land (Dean Jagger) orders his assassination to serve as an example to others. Disguised as a stuntman, Land's assassin, Stick (Mel Novak), sneaks onto the set of Billy's new film, and shoots Billy during filming. A fragment of the bullet passes through Billy's face, leaving him alive but in need of plastic surgery which alters his facial features. Billy takes the opportunity to fake his death and disguise himself, exacting revenge against those who wronged him one at a time. When the syndicate threatens and kidnaps his fiancée, Ann Morris (Colleen Camp), Billy is forced to come out of hiding to save her. In the revised film, Bruce Lee's fight scenes inside the pagoda are assumed to take place in the upper floors of the Red Pepper restaurant, where Dr. Land and his thugs have laid an ambush. In the end Billy survives the ambush, rescues Ann, and destroys each of the main mobsters one- by-one. 

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Set in 1910s Shanghai, Chen Zhen returns to Jingwu School to marry his fiancée. However, he learns that his master Huo Yuanjia has died, apparently from illness, which devastates Chen. During the funeral, people from a Japanese dojo in Hongkou District arrive to taunt the Jingwu students. Wu En, translator and advisor for the Japanese dojo's grandmaster Hiroshi Suzuki (the villain of the film), taunts Chen by slapping him on the cheek several times, and dares him to fight one of Suzuki's protégés. They present a sign to Jingwu School, bearing the words "Sick Man of East Asia", seemingly to insult Huo Yuanjia, describing the Chinese as "weaklings" in comparison to the Japanese. The protégé taunts the Jingwu students to fight him and promises, "I'll eat those words if any Chinese here dare to fight and defeat me". Chen Zhen wants to retaliate, but is prevented from doing so by Fan Junxia, the most senior student in the school. Shortly afterwards, Chen Zhen goes to the Hongkou dojo alone to return the sign. He winds up fighting the Japanese students, defeating all of them, including their sensei, single-handedly. He smashes the glass on the sign and makes the students who taunted him earlier chew up the paper bearing the derogatory words, so as to make them literally "eat their words". Later, Chen takes a stroll to a park. A Sikh guard refuses him entry, due to a posted sign that forbids dogs and Chinese in the park. After the guard allows a foreigner to bring her pet dog into the park, a Japanese man approaches Chen and tells him that if he behaves like a dog, he will be allowed to go in. Chen beats up the man and his friends in anger. After the fight, Chen breaks the sign. The guard blows his whistle to alert the police, but the citizens who watched the whole fight help Chen to escape the park. The Japanese students and their master retaliate by attacking Jingwu School on Suzuki's orders. After causing severe damage, the Japanese students leave. Wu, accompanying the Japanese students, warns Jingwu School to hand over Chen. Chen returns and realises that he has caused big trouble. His fellow students refuse to hand him over to the Japanese, so they make plans to help him escape from Shanghai. That night, Chen discovers that Master Huo had all along been poisoned by Tian, the cook. Chen then sees Tian and Feng Guishi, the caretaker, talking. Chen kills Tian, followed by Feng while trying to determine why they killed Master Huo. Chen hangs Tian and Feng's bodies from a lamp post. Chen's fiancée, Yuan Li'er, finds him hiding near Huo's grave, and they share a passionate moment together. Meanwhile, Suzuki forces the local police inspector, Inspector Lo, to arrest Chen, but he eludes them. Then, while Suzuki is entertaining his visiting friend Petrov, Chen kills Wu and hangs his body from the lamp post as well. The angry Suzuki heads to the Japanese Consulate and reports Chen, then on Tian's brother's advice sends his men to Jingwu School to kill everyone inside. That same night, Chen barges into the dojo to take his revenge, killing the students' master present, Yoshida, Petrov, and Suzuki. Chen returns to Jingwu School and finds most from Jingwu School and the Hongkou dojo dead. However, a few Jingwu students - among them Yuan, Fan Junxia, and Xu - are still alive, as they had also been searching for Chen at the grave site, acting on a tip from Yuan. Inspector Lo arrives at Jingwu to arrest Chen, who agrees to surrender himself to Lo to protect his master's legacy. Lo tells Chen that he can always trust him since he is Chinese. As they exit the school, Chen faces a line of armed Japanese soldiers and officials at the outer gate, all pointing their guns at him. Furious, Chen charges the line and makes a flying kick. The film ends on this freeze-frame shot and the sound of gun shots, implying his death and final sacrifice. 

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In Rome, Chen Ching-hua and her uncle Wang experience trouble with their restaurant from a crime boss who wants their property. When Chen refuses to give it up, the boss sends gangsters there to scare away the customers. Appealing to an uncle in Hong Kong, Chen receives help in the form of a young martial artist, Tang Lung. On his first arrival he is disoriented by his new surroundings and appears to be nothing but a country bumpkin. Disappointed, Chen asks what help he can be, but Tang confidently assures her that he is capable enough. At the restaurant, Tang learns that the staff have begun to learn karate, much to the annoyance of Quen, an employee who favors Chinese Kung Fu. Tang advises Quen to be open-minded and make use of anything that works. Before long, the gangsters appear at the restaurant and threaten the customers away while Tang is using the bathroom. Upset by Tang's poor timing, the staff question his skill and the usefulness of his style. When the gangsters later return, the staff engage the thugs in a fight, only to be beaten. However, Tang single-handedly defeats them, causing the staff to decide to train under him. Uncle Wang warns them that the gangsters will seek revenge, but Tang vows to protect the restaurant. Chen and Tang grow closer, and she takes him on a tour of Rome, though Tang is unimpressed by the city. Ho, the crime boss's subordinate, returns with armed men and takes the restaurant staff hostage. Ho gives Tang a ticket to Hong Kong and tells him to go back. However, when his men escort Tang outside, Tang fights back and defeats the thugs with his two nunchakus, followed by the help of the restaurant staff. Tang warns Ho not to return, and the thugs leave the restaurant. The staff celebrate their victory, but the gang boss threatens to have Tang killed unless he leaves by Chinese New Year, and Uncle Wang urges Chen to convince Tang to leave. When Tang refuses to abandon the restaurant, an assassin tries to kill him from a nearby rooftop with a sniper rifle. Already fidgety from nearby fireworks, Tang survives the attempt. He then tracks down and defeats the assassin after tricking him into wasting his ammunition. When he returns to the apartment, he finds that Chen is gone. Assuming that Ho has kidnapped her, Tang goes to the boss' headquarters with the restaurant staff, defeating his men. Tang issues a final warning to the boss to leave the restaurant alone. The staff again celebrate, but a telegram for Tang cuts this short when they learn that he has been summoned back to Hong Kong. Tang assures them that he will not leave until the situation is resolved. Ho hires two martial artists to challenge Tang - Japanese and European karate masters who initially refuse to work together. When the mafia boss indicates that money is no issue, Ho also recruits a world-class martial artist named Colt. Ho leads some of the restaurant staff to an isolated spot under the pretence of a truce, where the two martial artists ambush them. These initially defeat the staff, until Tang intervenes and leaves the staff to finish the last one off. Meanwhile Ho lures Tang away to fight Colt at the Colosseum. Left behind, Uncle Wang knifes the two remaining members of the staff, as he wants to sell the restaurant to the crime boss and return to Hong Kong a rich man. In a decisive ten-minute battle, Tang disables Colt. When Colt refuses an opportunity for mercy, Tang kills him with reluctance. Tang then places Colt's gi and black belt atop his dead body as a gesture of respect, before discovering Ho and chasing after him out of the Colosseum. As Tang and Ho return to the ambush site, the mob boss arrives and shoots both Ho and Uncle Wang. Then the police drive up, led by Chen, and arrest the boss as he tries to kill Tang. With the matter finally resolved, Tang sets out to return to Hong Kong. As he leaves, Quen tells Chen that Tang is a loner who will never settle down. 

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The USS Enterprise is hijacked by Norman, an android posing as a Starfleet lieutenant. Norman seals off engineering and redirects the ship to an unknown planet, warning that any attempt to undo his tampering will destroy the ship. When the crew arrives at the planet, Captain Kirk discovers that Harry Mudd, an outlaw whom Kirk has encountered previously, is the "ruler" of the androids who populate the planet. Mudd, or "Mudd the First", as he calls himself, informs Kirk that he and the Enterprise crew can expect to spend the rest of their lives there. Mudd then recounts his recent adventures. Having broken out of prison and stolen a spaceship that was damaged during his escape, Mudd crashed on this planet and was taken in by the androids. He says they are very accommodating, but refuse to let him go unless other humans are provided for them to serve and study. The Enterprise crew is to serve that purpose. McCoy notices a darkened glass panel, which Mudd says is a "shrine" to his wife Stella. The shrine contains an android which nags Mudd as his wife did, but stops instantly when ordered to "shut up". Mudd points out the similarity between Kirk's present position and hers. In response to Kirk's questions, the androids tell Kirk they were built by a people from the Andromeda Galaxy, who were destroyed by a supernova, leaving the robots to fend for themselves. First Officer Spock (Leonard Nimoy) discovers there are over 200,000 of these androids, and concludes that there must be some central control mechanism. The crew are brought down, replaced by an android crew. They find much to like about the androids' world. Scotty is fascinated by the engineering knowledge they have to share, Ensign Chekov (Walter Koenig) finds the idea of living on a planet full of compliant female androids not too bad, and Lt. Uhura (Nichelle Nichols) is tempted by the offer of immortality in an android body. Kirk will have none of this, however, and reminds them of their duty. Mudd plans to depart aboard Enterprise after a final farewell to the Stella android. However, the androids refuse his orders to beam him aboard. They have a different plan: they will leave the planet themselves and offer their services to humanity, with the eventual goal of bringing the greedy and aggressive human race under their control. As the Enterprise crew discuss their predicament, Spock notes that all of the androids belong to various named series, except for the one named Norman. Kirk relates that one android called on Norman to "coordinate" the analysis of an "illogical" statement. Spock concludes that Norman is the central locus of a composite android mind, and Kirk suggests that "wild, irrational illogic aimed right at Norman" could be a potent weapon against that mind. The crew then attempt to confuse the androids by means of contradictory statements and a series of bizarre theatrics. For the finale, Mudd and Kirk pose the liar paradox to Norman: Kirk claims everything Mudd says is a lie and Mudd "Now listen to this carefully, Norman. I am ... lying." Unable to resolve the contradiction, Norman burns out, causing the other androids to shut down as well. The androids are reprogrammed to return to their original tasks. Mudd is informed that he has been paroled to the android population, and that a special android has been programmed to see to his needs. Mudd is grateful until he discovers that this android is the Stella android, and there are now at least 500 copies of her – none of whom respond to his command to "shut up". 

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An unnamed narrator is approached by a young man called Clitophon (Kleitophōn) who is induced to talk of his adventures. In Clitophon's story, his cousin Leucippe (Leukippē) travels to his home in Tyre, at which point he falls in love with Leucippe, despite his already being promised in marriage to his half-sister Calligone. He seeks the advice of another cousin (Kleinias), already experienced in love (this latter's young male lover dies shortly after). Following a number of attempts to woo her, Clitophon wins Leucippe's love, but his marriage to Calligone is fast approaching. However, the marriage is averted when Kallisthenes, a young man from Byzantium who has heard of Leucippe's beauty, comes to Tyre to kidnap her, but by mistake kidnaps Calligone. Clitophon attempts to visit Leucippe at night in her room, but her mother is awakened by an ominous dream. Fearing reprisals, Clitophon and Leucippe elope and leave Tyre on a ship (where they meet another unhappy lover, Menelaos, responsible for his own boyfriend's death). Unfortunately, their ship is wrecked during a storm. They come to Egypt and are captured by Nile delta bandits. Clitophon is rescued, but the bandits sentence Leucippe to be sacrificed. Clitophon witnesses this supposed sacrifice and goes to commit suicide on Leucippe's grave, but it in fact turns out that she is still alive, the sacrifice having been staged by his captured friends using theatrical props. The Egyptian army soon rescues the group, but the general leading them falls in love with Leucippe. Leucippe is stricken by a state of madness, the effect of a strange love potion given her by another rival, but is saved by an antidote given by the helpful stranger Chaireas. The bandits' camp is destroyed and the lovers and their friends make for Alexandria, but are again betrayed: Chaireas kidnaps Leucippe, taking her away on his boat. As Clitophon pursues them, Chaireas' men apparently chop off her head and throw her overboard. Clitophon, distraught, returns to Alexandria. Melite, a widowed lady from Ephesus, falls in love with him and convinces him to marry her. Clitophon refuses to consummate the marriage before they arrive in Ephesus. Once there, he discovers Leucippe, who is still alive, another woman having been decapitated in her stead. It turns out that Melite's husband Thersandros is also still alive; he returns home and attempts to both rape Leucippe and frame Clitophon for adultery and murder. Eventually, Clitophon's innocence is proven; Leucippe proves her virginity by entering the magical temple of Artemis; Leucippe's father (Sostratos) comes to Ephesus and reveals that Clitophon's father gives the lovers his blessing. Kallisthenes, Calligone's kidnapper, is also shown to have become a true and honest husband. The lovers can finally marry in Byzantium, Leucippe's town. 

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Daphnis and Chloe is the story of a boy (Daphnis) and a girl (Chloe), each of whom is abandoned at birth along with some identifying tokens. A goatherd named Lamon discovers Daphnis, and a shepherd called Dryas finds Chloe. Each decides to raise the child he finds as his own. Daphnis and Chloe grow up together, herding the flocks for their foster parents. They fall in love but, being naive, do not understand what is happening to them. Philetas, a wise old cowherd, explains to them what love is and tells them that the only cure is kissing. They do this. Eventually, Lycaenion, a woman from the city, educates Daphnis in love-making. Daphnis, however, decides not to test his newly acquired skill on Chloe, because Lycaenion tells Daphnis that Chloe "will scream and cry and lie bleeding heavily [as if murdered]." Throughout the book, Chloe is courted by suitors, two of whom (Dorcon and Lampis) attempt with varying degrees of success to abduct her. She is also carried off by raiders from a nearby city and saved by the intervention of the god Pan. Meanwhile, Daphnis falls into a pit, gets beaten up, is abducted by pirates, and is very nearly raped. In the end, Daphnis and Chloe are recognized by their birth parents, get married, and live out their lives in the country. 

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As the Power siblings get ready for a new school year, they must deal with typical kid issues while also balancing their lives as super-powered children when they learn of Dr. Mobius, a phantom that haunts an abandoned house. 

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In a poor, downtrodden Russia, a vector of future development of the world is being decided. Six Forces send their champions—Envoys, copies of real people, typical of their kind; they are almost the same as their prototypes. An Envoy can do only that what prototype can, but unlike them, envoys believe in their own forces, and thus can change the world. The Envoys have a main directive—to survive. The last surviving Envoy is deemed to be the most fit for the world, and guides it in the future. 

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Kaito Kuroba is a normal teenage student whose father died under mysterious circumstances eight years ago. Eight years later, he is made aware of his father's secret identity; a famous international criminal known as Kaito Kid, and that he was murdered by a mysterious organization because he tried to steal a gem which was also targeted by them. The goal of the organization is to find within a year the Pandora Gem, a mystical stone said to shed tears during the passing of the Volley comet (which happens once every 10,000 years): drinking these tears bestows immortality. He vows to prevent the organization from gaining immortality, and assumes his father's thief identity as he begins his quest for the gem. His only clues as to the gem's location are that it glows red under the full moon and that it is a doublet: a gem hidden within a larger gem. Thus, it would have to be a relatively large one with a bizarre history, and always stored in a place that never receives moonlight. He thus researches and steals famous priceless gems with odd histories from incredibly well- defended areas, but returns them after the very next full moon as they are not the Pandora. 

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The American First Family, including the President of the United States, returns from a function in Chicago, Illinois when their convoy is ambushed by terrorists. In the resulting confusion, the terrorists manage to capture the entire First Family, and are demanding the release of their leader (the dictator) in exchange for the safe return of the president. Washington officials have decided to resolve the problem quietly, using military force. The player assists police at the scene of the kidnapping, from several high rise structures and after making a choice on tactics, the player defeats one of the terrorist leaders and manages to rescue the president's daughter in the process. Next the player pursues a terrorist boss in order to safely rescue the President's Wife. Finally the player makes an invasive entry into the terrorist base. After fighting through the heavily guarded mansion, the player defeats Monica and liberates the President himself. However the dictator is making a getaway and the player exhausts nearly an entire magazine on bullet proof glass and has only one bullet left to eliminate the dictator. 

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Following the demise of Agent L. Bivotar, Vice Regent Syovar the Strong assigns the player with the task of continuing their investigations within the region known as the Forbidden Lands, in which Bivotar had been instructed to discover what had happened to four prominent figures of the Empire who went missing – Doctor Erasmus Sartorius, General Thaddeus Kaine, Bishop Francois Malveaux, and Madame Sophia Hamilton - while determining if rumours of a mysterious curse that had emerged from within the region were substantiated, and investigate possible illegal magic being conducted. Travelling to the Temple of Agrippa, an ancient temple within the Eastlands that Bivotar had learnt about during their investigations, the player uncovers a message left behind by the spirit of Alexandria Wolfe, a young woman who seeks help to deal with a great evil that resides within the temple. Entering the main building of the temple, the player uncovers information revealing that Sartorius, Kaine, Malveaux and Sophia were operating in secret as alchemists, each mastering one of the four elements: Air, Fire, Earth, and Water. The group had been seeking the mysterious fifth element called "the Quintessence" - , until a mysterious entity known as the Nemesis killed them. After finding each member's corresponding element, the group explain that Nemesis not only killed them but also Alexandria, Francois' daughter, and Thaddeus' son Lucien. Using their combined power, the group stop Nemesis from attacking the player, and advises them to visit their homes and seek out the elemental metals aligned to each of them. Using a special planetarium, the player travels to each member's home – Steppinthrax Monastery, Castle Irondune, Grey Mountains Asylum, and Frigid River Branch Conservatory – and find the pure samples of each metal within each alchemist's personal laboratory. Whilst in each of these locations, the player slowly learns more about the Alchemists' work and the identity of the Nemesis, through visions and various letters. The player learns that Sartorius sought to complete the research of his father into the Quintessence which could grant eternal life. Learning that it required mastery of the four elements and their pure metals, both of which he could not accomplish on his own, Sartorius recruited the assistance of Sophia, Francois and Thaddeus, each for their own reasons: Francois sought to avoid his death from an incurable disease; Thaddeus sought power to win a war against a rival; and Sophia sought to live forever, having fallen in love with Thaddeus. The group soon learned that they needed to create a child, who had to be born when an alignment of planets, each corresponding to each alchemical element, occurred at the same time of a solar eclipse, who would lead them to finding the fifth element. Sartorius sourced the child, Alexandria, from one of his patients at his asylum, and left Francois in charge of raising her. Alexandria was taught a special song by Sophia, unaware it would purify her soul for a ritual the group would perform on her. However, the alchemists had not foreseen Lucien falling in love with Alexandria when he attended one of her concerts, thus Thaddeus had him arrested on a false charge of draft-dodging. Knowing the fifth element would be theirs at the next solar eclipse, the group lured Alexandria to their Agrippa for sacrifice. Lucien, learning of their plan, escaped from his cell, but arrived too late to save Alexandria. Angered, Lucien killed the group in revenge, and became the Nemesis in order to find the fifth element himself, and revive Alexandria with it. When the player returns, having revived the group, the alchemists attempt to convince them to drink from a chalice, but seeing them not willing, chose to send them away, while resuming their ritual. Lucien, knowing they must not find Alexandria's body, beseeches the player for help since they know the truth, and passes on a gold ring. Entering a hidden chamber below the temple, the player creates a special Alchemy symbol, representing Infinity, from both Lucien's and Alexandria's rings. With the rings now purified and imbued with the fifth element, representing pure love, the player quickly uses it to stop the Alchemists. The resulting power from the fifth element kills them, revives Alexandria, and destroys the temple. This ends the curse in the Forbidden Lands, and the game ends with Lucien and Alexandria walking away together to live in peace. 

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The protagonist is skating in their hometown, a neighborhood in New Jersey, when a van shows up in the middle of the ramp and the protagonist slams into it, knocking them out. Two people wearing hockey masks kidnap the protagonist and take them to a dark room with pro skaters Bob Burnquist, Eric Koston, Rodney Mullen, Mike Vallely and Chad Muska as well as Eric Sparrow (the protagonist's rival in Tony Hawk's Underground). The kidnappers, revealed to be Tony Hawk and Bam Margera, explain their plans for their debut "World Destruction Tour", a worldwide, publicity-free skateboarding tour where two teams (Team Hawk and Team Bam) compete for points, and the losing team has to pay for all the expenses. The player joins Team Hawk while Bam chooses Paulie "Wheels of Fury" Ryan, a foul-mouthed kid who wears a body cast and drives a high powered wheelchair. In Boston, the first leg of the tour, Team Bam manages to win at the last minute, thanks to one of Paulie's stunts. As a result, Bob Burnquist (a member of Team Hawk) is eliminated, via having a tennis ball shot at his genitals. Later on, in Barcelona, Team Hawk manages to take the lead again, however, the punishment for Team Bam is to having the player swap teams (in this case, Sparrow moves from Bam's team to Tony's team and the player doing the opposite, much to Bam's relief and Tony's annoyance.) At that time though, word had spread out about the World Destruction Tour, which was supposed to be a low-profile event but now is appearing on TV news because of a video of Bam and Koston letting a bull trash Bam's father and team Bam captain Phil's hotel room. In Berlin, the player and Sparrow are swapped back. At that moment, an underground film "writer, producer, director" by the name of Nigel Beaverhausen wishes to bring the tour to the public but instead winds up being humiliated by Tony and Bam. After causing chaos in Bangkok (the skaters were en route to Australia, though Muska suggested stopping in Thailand), the Tour lands in Australia. At the end of the leg, the player is supposed to be eliminated by being stripped down to their underwear and hit by mousetraps launched at them, but due to Mullen spotting a mathematical error in team Hawk's points, the player has to compete with Sparrow - the loser will be eliminated from the tour. The group ponders what to do when a skater kid arrives and shows them a video of the tour, created by Beaverhausen. Tony decides that whoever humiliates Beaverhausen will stay on the tour. Sparrow manages to steal his clothes but the player, with Nigel's clothes, goes off causing a rampage on Australian citizens so that Beaverhausen will be blamed for it. Eric is eliminated as a result, in which the tour goes to New Orleans. At the end of the New Orleans leg, Nigel reveals that he filmed the whole tour, even before he met Tony and Bam in Berlin. Nigel proposes that if he is allowed to film the whole tour, he will pay for all the damages of the tour. After Phil shows Tony and Bam the long damage bill, they accept. Team Hawk performs a death-defying stunt called the "Equalizer" to tie up with Team Bam and is successful, but team members Vallely, Muska, and Mullen are arrested by the cops for stealing the helicopter used for the stunt, leaving the player and Hawk for the final leg of the Tour: Skatopia, defined by Tony as "the skateboarding Mecca". Team Hawk, though reduced to two members, performs well enough to win, Bam decides to blow up Skatopia, confident on his victory. In order to save people from the imminent damage, Tony evacuates the skaters. Bam dares the player, who is still stuck in the back end of Skatopia, to exit the whole flaming park in a combo, which he considers impossible. The player takes the dare and gives Team Hawk the win for the World Destruction Tour. Nigel wants Bam to give him the tape of the tour, which shows Phil in the toilet, shouting to his wife April for more toilet paper. The game ends with Bam and Tony humiliating Beaverhausen once more, as Bam pulls down his pants on international TV. 

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Following his failure to defeat Liu Kang in the previous Mortal Kombat tournament, the evil Shang Tsung begs his master Shao Kahn, supreme ruler of Outworld and the surrounding kingdoms, to spare his life. He tells Shao Kahn that if they hold the next Mortal Kombat Tournament in Outworld, the Earthrealm warriors must travel away from home to attend. Kahn agrees to this plan, and restores Shang Tsung's youth and martial arts prowess. He then extends the invitation to the thunder god and Earthrealm's protector, Raiden, who gathers his warriors and takes them into Outworld. The new tournament is much more dangerous, and as Shao Kahn has the home field advantage, an Outworld victory will allow him to subdue Earthrealm.Mortal Kombat II Game Gear manual, p.2-3. According to the Mortal Kombat series' canon, Liu Kang won this tournament as well, defeating Shao Kahn and his bodyguard Kintaro.Dan Ryckert, Who Actually Won Mortal Kombat?, GameInformer.com, February 1, 2012. The game's story mode can be also finished using any other playable character, resulting in different non-canonical endings for each of them. 

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